"Leon" wrote in message
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"George" wrote in message
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Having grown up in a 1840ish-built home with 16" thick brick exterior
walls, I have to agree about the benefit of mass. However, beyond the
price of materials, solid masonry construction doesn't easily permit
wires or pipe to be installed, modified or maintained. Insulation, if
required, is also a problem, as is the cost of labor building it.

Nonny

Typically concrete walls have a very low R-value when compared to typical
insulated stud walls. In 1986 the car dealer I worked for built a new
state of the art facility. Solid poured on site contrete walls. Inside
the air conditioned offices the walls were quite warm to the touch from
the afternoon sun.

From what I read about that kind of massive wall, they almost need to be
"tuned" to the area. Ideally, the cooler night would offset the warmer day
and the overall climate wouldn't have much summer/winter swing, such as in a
desert setting. There, clear nights are cold and days are hot, but
winter-summer is not that much different. If it's much colder than warmer
or the opposite, the mass has less significance. In one city were we lived,
it was colder than the dickens and a poured concrete wall would have
required extensive thermal break and further insulation to be effective.

Nonny