ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the thermodynamics of shelter in the interaction between building construction and climate modification, using the three versions of the Ellis House-normative, improved, and Passivhaus Net Zero Energy (NZE) -to put design strategies in a larger context. Accounting for the embodied work and resources of construction involves a critical distinction. As Banham's example illustrated, there is a difference between investing timber in the construction of a building that provides environmental services over time and burning it quickly to provide heat or perform work. In the structural solution, the energetic potential in the wood is not consumed immediately by its use in the building. In the simplest thermodynamic description of building construction, a selection of materials are prepared, transported, and assembled into a building using human labor, the energetic potential of fuels and electricity, and a variety of services from tools to information.
