Entryway
The entryway works as an airlock, keeping cold winter air from flooding into the interior of the building when the front door is opened. The double-pane, two-layers-of-Heat Mirror®, krypton-filled storm door is typical of the gas-filled superwindows found throughout the building. It insulates more than three times as well as triple glazing, or eight times as well as the wooden door inside. Indeed, on sunny winter days, the inner door can get so hot that its varnish starts to bubble! Even newer and better glass stormdoors, about four times as insulating as triple glazing (because of an additional heat-reflecting coating inside the outer lite of glass), cover the building's other three exterior doors.
A low-hanging beam just outside the front door helps save additional energy. The beam shades the door in summer, when the sun is high; in winter, when the sun is low, it allows the low winter sun to shine in. The overhang also shades the metal cooling fin that keeps refrigerated food cool without electricity for about half the year.
Next: Dining Room
