I've posted several times about the desire to have an indoor plant arburitum with small indoor pool and hot tub. My idea was to have the main house surround an inner courtyard sort of area, but have the inner area totally roofed/glassed over for use in all weather.

I do not know how feasible this would be in terms of humidity, heat generation, and those sorts of things.

Any thoughts on the matter?

Sherasi, what are you doing, living in my head. I have had those plans in my head for at least 45 years. A "U" or "L" shaped house surrounding this Tropical pool/garden area. The open side would face South to catch the most sun light.

The garden area is the "Hall" to the other areas of the house. Let's say to go from the the kitchen to the bedroom area, you go through the garden area. You would have a view and access to the atrium form most rooms.

IT CAN BE DONE. But expensive.

Because of the climate we live in, OH/PA, the atrium will have to be stand alone to the house as far as climate control goes. Some major technological devices have come along that make it possible. I don't want to take the space here but if you would like my ideas on it, drop me an e-mail and we will chat.

It would be very possible to do - expensive? - kind of.

Humidity and heat could be vented off during the summer months, Since winter tends to be cold and dry inside, the added humidity would be a good thing. There are "automatic" levers which open windows in green houses - something like that would be used over screened sheltered windows which would be near the top of the room and near the floor.

What would happen is the warm air in the room would rise out through the top vents pulling in cooler air at the bottom.

One of the other things you would do to control the temperature is to use louvers angled to capture the winter sun fully, and shading from the higher summer sun.

There is a relatively new plastic material which is used in new green houses - it is light weight and insulated with dead air pockets. It is still relatively expensive, but the price is coming down all the time. There are a few companies out there who can custom make frames (vinyl clad aluminum).

The subjects you really should look up are Green Houses and Solar Heating (Passive Solar).

Since this would be a part of the house, Solar energy could be tapped into. Not only that but passive solar works by being designed to shade in the summer and collect the direct sunlight in winter If you get the right books, you will get all of the angles and designs you would need, venting, etc.

Cheers

David

look at this nifty devise:

http://www.greenhouses-etc.net/ghse-sunshine/solar_vent.htm

It will automatically open up windows when temperatures reach X amount.

The Plastic is Called Polycarbonate.

http://gallinausa.com/?source=gapolycarbonate

http://www.austpolyproducts.com.au/skylight.htm

I'm sorry it took so long for me to find these.

Cheers

David

You have a great idea, however it is not recommended to leave your house open to this high humidity and chlorine environment. Moisture migrates and the damages and deterioration to your home would be a problem.
When you build a pool room (and yes you can put plants in it), however a pool room is not maintained like a greenhouse. Humidity levels are generally kept according to all ASHRAE Guidelines at 50-60% relative humidity, with a pool at around 80-82 degrees and air temperature 82-84 Degrees (Spa @ 104 degrees).
Chlorine does affect plant life. We have one in New Jersey that it kills her geraniums, but her tomato plants love it. You'll have to do some testing with different plants.

If you want more information about indoor pools, go to our website at www.dry-air.com and click on DESIGN GUIDELINES for indoor pools. That will help you a great deal.
Regards
Christine Leonetti