Designs That Work
Very Cold Climate
Introduction - Climate Specific Design
Houses should be designed to suit their environments. In the
home-building industry, we have accepted that design and construction must
be responsive to varying seismic risks, wind loads and snow loads. We also
consider soil conditions, frost depth, orientation and solar radiation.
Yet we typically ignore the variances in temperature, rainfall, exterior
and interior humidity and their interaction. The Habitat Congress
Building America houses are designed for a specific hygro-thermal region,
rain exposure and interior climate. This means that the building enclosure
and mechanical systems that are recommended in this package are generally
suited to the Very Cold climate region. You can find a description of the
North American annual rainfall and hygro-thermal regions on the climate
maps that follow. Notice that while there are similarities between
regions, there are also differences. It is cold and dry in Wyoming; it is
cold and somewhat wet in Wisconsin. Local climate may also differ
significantly from the regional climate descriptions, and if so, the
differences must be addressed when implementing the house design provided
here. |
