22092010
Reducing cows' methane production the natural way
By Eco Guy
11:57pm 22nd September 2010
It appears that oregano can actually reduce the methane 'emissions' a cow produces..
Most people have not heard of AAC blocks or similar 'specialized' building systems. They are most usually familiar with brick or wood construction.
Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is a form of concrete that is literally 'bubbled concrete' cast into a form; usually as a large brick but can often be whole floor or wall sections. This material has the following properties:
- Light weight when compared to normal bricks
- High R-Value, so has a good ability to insulate against heat and cold
- High fire rating, both due to the high R-Value and concrete based construction.
- Low sound transmission.
Although AAC on its own does have some disadvantages compared to brick or wood constructions:
- Lower direct load capacity - i.e. cannot be really used to support structural loads, so some other building element needs to carry the load for them (i.e. a steel frame or suspended flooring). Although this being said Hebel do produce the PowerBlock system that claims to be load bearing in a certain configuration.
- Low impact resistance - basically they break easily, so need to be 'wrapped' by structure that provides impact resistance.
- Needs specialized glues and associated construction techniques.
- Low intrinsic thermal mass - i.e. you cannot use AAC as part of a trombe wall or as part of the aggregate whole house thermal mass.
This been said; if the building is completely new and is of yet not built; this could be a viable option for you if you are looking to:
- Reduce you heating and cooling costs; i.e. you live in an environment where the temperature is constantly outside of the 'comfort' range;
- You need sound isolation from the external environment (i.e. major road close by).
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