I know of someone who has a two story HUGE strawbale house in the Santa Cruz mountains, 12K of solar completely off the grid, solar water heating for both home, spa, and subfloor heading. They provided for awesome passive heating on the south window structure. Let me know if you want to visit and I will call them for a walk through. BTW, also have a Yoga studio attached to the house that one of the owners teachs in. Nice people with some great applications of doing things right. Just the idea that your going to use alternative building technology puts you ahead of 99.99% of standard building.
James Slayden On Fri, 13 Dec 2002, Grahams wrote: > At 08:40 PM 12/12/2002, you wrote: > >This is a bit OT, but I don't know where else to address an audience > >with the potential interest level. > > > >I'm planning to build a new house in a rural area, and I'd like to do > >it in an ecologically sound way. The plan at present is 1700 sq.ft., > >straw bale walls, minimal usage of wood and concrete, > > Research , research, research... did I get my point across? Building a > house is a BIG financial and lifestyle investment. Before you choose or > discard any options try to find someone who has a "working" model of that > component. Some research of straw bale that I ran across showed that > within a year there was significant mold growth. I am sure this is > climate > related, yet certainly worth considering. I chose cellulose > insulation, > due to it's cost and the fact that it is recycled newspaper. I don't > know > whether this is why or not- but this winter (2nd in this house) we are > overrun with mice living in it. Not that big a deal, (till you find the > dead ones trapped in the file cabinet smelling up that whole room) but I > never considered that. > > Also, "wood" is certainly a renewable resource- your common "2x4" can be > harvested every 8-10 years on our woods. > We are considering cob for our next building project. If you are > building > in a place with dirt-(not just sand). This may meet many of your goals. > ( > tip- I would purchase a tractor with a loader.) > > > > etc etc. > >I've run across a measure of environmental impact called "embodied > >energy", which tries to include not only the energy required to > >manufacture the basic material, but also such factors as the energy > >needed to transport the raw and finished materials, the amount of > >labor needed to install (ie, transporting n workers to a site), > > This could also be interpreted as just plain expense, which comes up for > everyone as they try to make a sustainable housing project a reality. > The > more unusual or out of the ordinary, unless very simple, will be more > expensive in labor. This is a big deal IMO, construction workers are > seldom > known for their intellectual abilities. I chose a manufactured straight > truss- only so their would be no on site labor cost and associated > possible > problems. I found a wonderfully easy to install reflective metal roof > which > my workers could install rather than getting a "roofer". On the other > hand, the insulation factory is 15 miles away, yet I had to purchase it > from a retailer 30 miles away, in order to get use of the blower- > wasteful, > yet simpler and less expensive. > > > as well > >as the lifetime of the end result. > > > > Once again this is an expense issue. I chose concrete blocks, stone or > brick, because of so many "old" building I saw, still useable or > reclaimable when clad in this material. As my aunt used to say- "You > can't > build a 1990's house at 1960's labor prices." the labor that went into > the > brick on a colonial house has "paid for" itself, many times over. The > clapboard has only been preserved with many coats of paint over the > years. For this however, I think you must use your own common sense and > think it out. What can you see currently that has "lasted" . This does > give > "new" stuff a serious disadvantage, but that is just the way it is. We > chose an in floor radiant heat system. I have had lots of problems with > the > pump needing to be replaced EVERY year after being dormant for the > summer. Perhaps it is a bad pump, yet this could become way more > expensive > and bothersome than a "traditional tried and true" heating system would > have been. > > > > >Unfortunately, this index (imprecise at best) DOESN'T typically > >seem to address two issues of particular concern to me -- carbon > >burden (atmospheric), and sustainability (how long will supplies > >of the material last at current consumption rates). Maybe that's > >because the bulk of the work was done in the 70's, when such info > >was less significant or not yet emphasized. > > > >Anyway, does anyone know of RECENT research addressing these > >issues as they pertain to home construction methods? Steel roofs > >vs comp shingle > > Don't know the embodied energy rating, but a reflective roof will > significantly reduce cooling needs. One fellow at the DOE said that if CA > had all white or reflective roofs they would have 100 less smog days per > year. (This was heard during a conference I don't have a written > reference, > wish I did.) He said most folks don't like the "look"- thus we all pay a > higher cost. :( > > >-- concrete slab floor vs wooden joists -- solid > >timber beams vs "engineered wood products", etc. ? > > What there is I could find, though I don't have it handy on this > computer. > If no one else answers on that, email me again after Christmas. I would > be > glad to share what I have. I took a year or two to study all these > things > before building this house. I can offer you my opinion and some "experts" > to contact. The best thing is to find an example and go "feel" it. Ask > about any unexpected "bugs". (Our concrete floor was poured a bit too > late > in the fall- full of unrepairable cracks, not worth shelving the whole > project till spring, but had I known I would have pushed harder to get it > in sooner.) Also try to buy direct from the maker if possible- a local > fellow with a portable sawmill, on your property could cut the wood you > need on site, for example. But you would need enough trees and a place to > store the boards. > > Caroline G > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Biofuels list archives: > http://archive.nnytech.net/ > > Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
