Monolithic slab in a cold climate
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| Posted in Green Building Techniques on
I’ve been talking to an excavator who says that he has done quite a few monolithic slabs up here in Vermont, including one for his own home. I’m wondering if anyone else has used a monolithic slab in a cold climate and if so, how did they do it? I’m thinking that 4″ of foam insulation under the slab and another 4″ around the slab would work, but I wonder how far out it should go. I also wonder about what kind of vertical insulation to use around the slab perimeter. Any advice?
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Replies
William,
Yes, you can install a frost-protected shallow foundation in a cold climate.
Here's a link to an article with more information: Frost-Protected Shallow Foundations.
Thanks!
You can also go to http://cchrc.org/ and read their information on FPSF's. Do a search of "frost protected shallow foundations."
Alan Gibson wrote a good piece on his techniques in the April 2010 JLC. http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-bin/jlconline.storefront/4f80c30e091c174427190a323cb4061d/Product/View/1004sup
thanks for the resources!
Frost-proctected shallow foundations are pretty much standard when building a house here in sweden. Here is an example of a type of foundation called supergrund: http://www.aerobord.ie/images/stories/multimedia/Supergrund_flyer_Newstyle.pdf. this on have a U value of 0.11 w/mk2 down to as low as 0.07 w/mk2.
Tommy H: Very nice. For those of us wanting an edge beam, these would work real well. Does anyone know if these are available in the States? At one time, a builder here was tinkering w/ the idea of having these made here, but then changed his slab design.