'Thermal Mass Construction INC' has developed a set of building materials and procedures that allow us to build residential or commercial structures 100% off the grid. With our “Thermal Mass Green Building System” we have a set of options for the level of efficiency a home buyer/owner can afford to achieve according to their budget including the amount of government subsidies and tax credits are available at the time. A client may have certain restrictions on the size and scope of a new build, or the amount of retrofitting they can do at a time.  Yet we are able to offer sustainable energy efficiency in varying degrees to our clients that can be built one phase at a time according to their needs and budget.

Using the materials and procedures developed by Thermal Mass Construction INC new construction for a client is priced at approximately $100 a square foot for the panels and assembly of the structure itself in terms of new construction, which leaves considerable room for profit by the local contractors. Our “Thermal Mass Green Building System” incorporates the heating & cooling system into the mass of the structure itself by way of thermal mass insulated concrete panels that have radiant loops embedded in them.  The system can gather heat from a solar array that is connected to a heating manifold, heating the water in the radiant system to 100+ degrees, or can work in concert with a geo thermal deep well recovery component.

We hesitate to use the terms “heating & cooling” because the “Thermal Mass Green Building System” provides “temperature maintenance” rather than pumping hot or cold air inside the structure.  With “Thermal Mass (Cth)”, once the structure is brought up to temperature (70̊), it takes very little energy to maintain it.  Stone, rock, and concrete hold the heat extremely well providing a comfortable ambient living space.  It takes a lot of energy to change the temperature of heavy mass and very little to keep it at 70̊. 

On the other hand air has no mass and its temperature can be altered very easily.  That is why every time the wind howls in the winter the cold air outside is replacing the warm air inside, so the boiler has to kick on and re-heat the air.  Thermal mass (Cth) can withstand the howling winds and freezing temperatures of winter with little energy output from your system.  You can literally spend a week away from your home in the dead of winter and lose only a few degrees. 

Geo-thermal, solar, and even wood & pellet stoves can be and are used during the coldest winter months to supplement heat in concert with each other. In cases where a client would like ambient heating to come from a propane fireplace or corner eternal flame producer with a heat exchanger, we can provide propane heating as a supplemental option. There are a lot of different, simplified solutions to the home energy question, and we have them all. Geographic specific analysis is done on-site to determine the best, most energy and cost efficient system your location can provide you.

Your new “Thermal Mass Green Home” will be cooled in the summer months by a Basement Cooling Loop (BCL) which is the primary heat sink for the structure’s mass. When cooling is called for in the structure, the main component for this (working in concert with the mass) is a circulator pump. These pumps circulate water thru the radiant tubing and only consume 10 – 15 cent worth of electricity a day.  During the day when the structure goes from 70̊ to 71̊ the pumps kick on and remove the heat from the structure and dissipate the energy into the BCL. After the structure has been cooled by the BCL an optional shallow well (100’) deep, or an evaporator coil can remove the heat captured by the BCL during the cooling cycle.

 If the water in the BCL started off at 55̊ may have warmed up to 60̊. Using the above we will have the ability to remove the heat from BCL. Using the Evaporating coil at night when the atmosphere provides not only cool air but moist cool air. The moisture in the air will increase the efficiency of removing heat due to the conductive heat transfer. The evaporator coil could be set to come on whenever the outside temperature is lower than the BCL temperature. The shallow well will be used in the same manor but will provide a more constant 55̊ year round. By combining the different components you will not only increase your efficiency but you will be able to store energy in large amounts of mass for future use.

The cost to the consumer is as good as or better than traditional stick built homes that use a forced air heating and cooling system. We will provide thousands of jobs for local contractors from excavation, general contractors, heavy equipment, trucking, mining, concrete production, mining, finishing laborers, to a new subdivision of the truly green housing industry, the local monitoring station.

A Monitoring Station can provide oversight and control of local community’s system maintenance needs through the ease of a software application. The Monitoring Station will be connected to a control panel which will be preassembled and designed for each home and the components that the house can utilize according to its Geographic Specific Location. A digital or other interface will connect each control panel to a central monitoring location. Each Control panel will have all the necessary components to accommodate the “Thermal Mass Green Building System”; circulator pumps, manifolds, control valves and other basic temperature censing components.  There will be connections on the control panel to connect the structures concrete panels as well as the BCL, GEO Cell, Maintenance Boiler, wells, and Solar. With the combination of all these components being tied to and controlled by a centrally located LOCAL monitoring station that is commissioned by Thermal Mass Construction INC.

At these LOCAL monitoring stations they will not only have the ability to start heating or cooling the individuals structure thru a wireless interface but the monitoring facility will also be able to contact homeowners and contractors if it becomes necessary to manually inspect or check the system.   Since each home is built from thermal mass concrete insulated panels that are the connected to the heating & cooling system, water runs through the radiant coils embedded in the panels to either heat the structure using solar hooked up to a manifold to 70̊ in winter months, or cool the structure using the 55 degrees available just below the surface of the earth during the summer months. This is all hooked up to a control panel that turns the system on and off accordingly.

Maintenance Boilers compared to Traditional heating systems. Traditional Heating systems turn on and off first blasting hundreds of thousands of BTU’s into a home and then letting it cool off. Since the heating systems are usually located in the basement and most basements are cold in the winter months each time the system kicks on it has to warm up the Heat Exchanger and other heating components (plenum, duct work, pipes) up to 180̊ before the circulation system turns on. Each time this happens a few gallons of fuel is wasted. Just imagine how much you would save having a heating system in a warm basement.

Now back to the Maintenance Boiler. This system provides a low temp heat over a long period of time. One example would be taking a pellet stove and converting it into a boiler. By capturing the heat and putting it into warming water you will now be able to put heat into the structure instead of putting it into the air. One bag of pellets will run for 10 hours providing 100̊ of warm water circulating through your structure just like your body circulates warm blood throughout your body.  With a Geothermal deep well recovery system under the slab the supplemental maintenance boiler will be used minimally, if at all.  The maintenance boiler is best suited for supplemental heat when there is no geothermal deep well recovery system and the structure will need that source of heat.  This is what will go into the system in regards to a new construction project. 

The economy needs retooling and we want it to go Green.  Our concept can create thousands of jobs in New York State as well as the country for retrofitting and new construction, as well as an entirely new panel of jobs to fill the needs of the Local Monitoring Station operations.  Our goal is to put people back to work by transitioning to Green Sustainable practices.  Local communities will benefit greatly from the increased work available via retrofitting, the tax revenue generated, and the empowerment of self-sustaining energy efficiency.

This is the way to kick start the Green Revolution in New York, and we plan on leading the way. Please check out our blog ~ follow us on Twitter @SelfSustaining ~ on Facebook Thermal Mass Construction INC, or email and ask us any questions you might have about what we are offering at sustainable.composition@gmail.com

Scott Patrick Humphrey                                 Joe Britt Jr.

Director of Sales & Marketing                        Owner/Engineer/Green Building Consultant

Thermal Mass Construction INC                Thermal Mass Construction INC