I specialize in the design of structures that use thermal mass as the heating cooling method. While concrete, stone, and brick all have thermal inertia- they only store specific heat, rising in temperature as heat is stored. But you want the interior temperature of your home to be constant. Certain species of wood, however, store both specific and latent heat. The characteristic of latent storage is flat-lining, the temperature stays constant as the material changes phase. In this case- the resins in the cellular structure of Southern Yellow Pine wood melt/crystallize in the 70-80 degree F range- the range of human comfort. The concept is based on the studies at the NIST Gaithersburg Maryland facility in 1981 that showed solid wood buildings could be more energy efficient than insulated stick framed homes. I have refined the concept further with my own research and development. Other species have resins which change phase in this range, but they are not abundant, renewed, and inexpensive like Southern Yellow Pine.

Our goal has always been to develop a fast, economical, and strong/safe building system. And to make such structures easy and profitable for builders, and affordable for homeowners. Only recently has the concept 'green' entered the picture- and I find our system, while developed 30 years ago, is by current standards about as "green" as you can get. The thermal inertia effect takes care of most of the heating and cooling needs so the energy is natural and renewable and the material is natural and renewable. Little need for fuel and electricity means little pollution. Since wood sequesters carbon- the structures usually go beyond 'carbon neutral' and are 'carbon-negative.'

The structure is based around a repeating component: a glue laminated beam milled into a tongue and groove wall component typically 6 inches (4 lams) wide and 6 ½ inches high by 16 feet (or less) long. More than 4 lams may be used in colder climates, or for very tall buildings. The lams are glued upright, not flat like typical gluelam girders and headers, so you do not see the glue lines- only the inside and outside lam. The exterior can be milled into any typical wood siding shape: Clapboard, Dutch, beaded, etc. There are no exposed fasteners- all fasteners go down between the tongues and are hidden by the next piece. All the southern Yellow Pine comes from certified-sustainable tree farms. The components are precut and numbered inside a factory, out-of-the-weather, and delivered to the site where they are assembled using a slow-speed electric drill driving self-drilling 9 inch screws. Assembly. like stacking blocks, is incredibly fast, and the wall is finished when the blocks are placed. There is no need for siding, insulation, blocking, nailing, sheathing, bracing, tie-down or connecting plates, or interior surfacing. On a typical day the drill is the only tool needed. A side benefit is the structure is hurricane and tornado wind-and-impact resistant, fire resistant, and not harmed by flooding. A perfect application, considering the speed and economy, would be hurricane replacement housing.

Currently I have to use commercially available gluelams, made of top grade material and designed to be structural. This is overkill for this application where the wood is in compression, and the inside lams will never be seen. Ideally the gluelam components could be made with a high quality interior-side lam, and a weather resistant exterior-side lam, with recycled scrap wood in the middle. In fact the middle layers could be the knotty defects that are usually thrown away or burned by the defect mills that finger joint boards. The knottier the better- knots are resinous and store more energy. I have developed a patented process to enhance the energy storage capacity of the inner layers by adding seed crystals to the wood, and/or injecting more resin. This resin is a waste product from the paper-making industry.

This wall system, so easy and fast to assemble using only a modified electric drill, could be just-as-easily disassembled, if necessary, in the future. There are no visible fasteners- the house could be re-assembled elsewhere without showing any holes, scuff-marks, or signs of its disassembly. The components are marked with their lengths- so another size structure could be made from them- simply take inventory on deconstruction and use AutoCAD to give you possible new configurations with the same pieces. The components are large cross-section, without scars from fasteners, so they are more likely to be salvaged and reused in the future than 2x4's that are scarred from many small fasteners, wire holes, and toenail dents. This also assures that the carbon remains sequestered, and can be counted on as a true carbon sink. I have calculated that building one house this way is equivalent to taking 50 cars off the road.

Since most American homes are already built of wood, a change over to this system would be simple and painless. All builders who have tried it like the simplicity, speed, and lack of skill which make it easier to hire crews. The manufacturing process is low in embodied energy, the homes use little fossil fuel, and the material regrows. To sum up- this is an economical, reusable, 100% renewable, building component that stores energy and sequesters carbon- a true Green Building Block.