Sustainable living is a choice that not only benefits the environment through low impact production and energy conservation, but can save you money in the long run. This is especially true when you expand the sustainability of eco-friendly materials such as Thermacork to the scale of your entire living space.
Dwell Development, LLC builds one-of-a-kind homes based on Passive house technology, resulting in zero energy use living spaces. The home pictured here uses Thermacork cork siding to insulate the house and create an aesthetically pleasing façade that encompasses the home’s exterior.
Cork has been used on houses for centuries in Portugal due to its high performance insulation properties, despite the high density of the bark. Through a process called thermal delay the cork insulation slows the warming of the house during the day, and maintains the warm temperatures that build up by the time the sun goes down throughout the night. This, coupled with the home’s solar panels results in a house that actually produces more energy than it uses up.
Thermacork is produced in Portugal using a carbon negative process. The cork dust built up by manufacturing the insulator is burned in a high temperature boiler, producing 90% of the energy for the process. There are no binders or additives used in Thermacork, merely the bark itself processed with steam. Because cork oak tree bark can be harvested from the same tree 15-20 times over the course of the plant’s life of 200 years or more, cork is an incredibly sustainable natural building material that does not require the actual cutting down of trees. Cork is also harvested by hand, further reducing the ecological impact of the industry.
Therefore Dwell’s Passive home not only saves the owner money on energy consumption in the long run, but offers a domicile that contributes to today’s ever increasing awareness of our responsibility to conserve natural resources. Thermacork exteriors require very little upkeep, and the natural shielding, which once protected the oak tree that grew the bark, withstands the elements amazingly well.
You can see for yourself how beautifully this home’s exterior offers environmental and financial sustainability, as well as aesthetic and pragmatic longevity. For samples of Thermacork please click here.
