Excerpts from Green Magazine Issue 12

The following text was taken from "Green Magazine" Issue 12 2010, from the article "Nicely Clad" by Jane Riley.

The outer skin of a house not only protects its interior and defines its aesthetic but, chosen correctly, forms a crucial part of its sustainable properties and on-going operational efficiencies.
An efficiently run house - where thermal comfort is achieved with no (of minimal) additional heating and cooling systems - is a green one.

"We often use reverse brick veneer because it corrects the poor relationship that traditional brick veneer has to the environment". "Where traditional brick has all the thermal mass on the outside, reverse brick veneer places this internally, helping to regulate temperature highs and lows by bringing stability to the interior. It will keep you cool in summer and warm in winter."
Such cladding means you can have a timber-style home with the same thermal performance of a double-brick home. Using clay bricks , it has embodied energy, or with concrete block, low to medium. It has high thermal mass, low internal maintenance but potentially high external maintenance depending on the cladding. If not used for an entire house, it is especially good for north-facing rooms.

Thermal Mass

Clay brickwork has high thermal mass. If a building with internal clay brickwork walls and concrete
floors is subjected to a heating and cooling cycle that crosses the comfort zone, the brickwork and concrete will maintain a relatively stable level of heat energy for an extended period. In summer, they will remain relatively cool and winter, the same building will remain relatively warm. Link

Mark, Paul and Matthew will be delving into the world of reverse-brick veneer construction and giving up-to-date posts on how you would achieve this.