Walls

Walls and the roof are over 30 cm thick making this house low in energy consumption. All the beams used in the wall are thick and solid and all the joinery is hand cut mortise and tennon joints locked with white oak pegs. As well as dovetail joints and scarf joints.

2”x4”(two-by-four) modern stick frame nailed prefabricated homes have proven their weakness once faced to the strong wind and natural disasters. Walls must be heavy and solid to be able to call them strong walls. Wall natural construction and insulation in our Northmen home meets passive house standards. House has zero plastic in its construction as the vapour travels through the wall and there is no condensation point even if the outside temperature gets below -30C. Wood in any form does not collect moisture but absorbs it and extracts it. because it is a hygroscopic material, it has a natural tendency to get dry. Only modern insulation materials such as mineral wool, once wet, never gets dry. That’s why it is a rule to wrap such insulated houses in a plastic from inside and live in an unhealthy, non breathing environment which then requires unnatural climate control.

Thick walls and roof are the key for warmth in the winter and the coolness and freshness in the summer as the sun and heat cannot get through the wall from outside. So this house is suitable for all climatic zones - south, Mediterranean and north.

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Exterior wooden board cladding - zero maintenance and fireproof

The exterior cladding boards and the porch decking boards are made using pine thermo wood. This is wood that is modified by high heat steam to create a dimensionally stable, rot resistant, chemical free board. No hazardous chemicals are needed to get boards with a higher durability then chemically treated boards. The boards have a brown colour from the heat treatment process and require no additional dyeing except for aesthetics.

Lime plaster

On the walls we will use natural lime plaster. Lime is antibacterial, prevents mould growth and helps to regulate climate indoors and absorbs the light very smooth. It also makes the walls fireproof from inside of the house and works as a vapour membrane itself. The material is more durable then modern plasters due to higher elasticity and is not affected by water.

Should the wall “breath” or no?

Many modern home builders and scientists laugh about when hearing the term “breathable wall” followed by saying that a wall should not breathe - but the ventilation system should ensure air exchange. True - but that is when they talk about houses wrapped in a double or triple layer of plastic. And when the walls have Orientated Strand Boards (OSB, full of synthetic and toxic formaldehyde glues) and foam or mineral insulation. Yes this type of wall does not breathe at all. It is like saying that human being is breathing only through his nose and mouth trying to disprove the fact that we are breathing also trough the skin pores. And what happens if we wrap ourselves with plastic? Or try to live in plastic bag? We will die very soon. The same is with the wood. It is natural material that has pores, small cracks and it is capable to be part of the living environment and making the house a living organism that extracts water condensation and overall regulates the perfect microclimate in our daily life and takes care of our health. Breathable walls help the exchange of this vapour caused by the condensation and in this system the water is fully regulated by the living house.

Windows - modern engineering, traditional design

Until nowadays windows were the main part where all the heat loss of the house goes. By joining modern engineering and natural materials it is possible to build a window without thermal bridges and that works as a solar energy collector in the heating season and in the summer the selective Low E glass coating reflects the sunlight. In our Northmen home project there are 14 or more windows that is a big amount of surface area throughout heat can be lost. Our windows are historic style passive house windows originally engineered in Germany and carefully crafted by our window makers using wood, wood fibre in the window frame and insulated layers of glass reaching the window and frame U value of 0.06 W2MK. The windows have a natural felt membrane made of sheep wool replacing modern plastic membranes.