Just a few minutes ago I received a new Gmail notification, google found a link to a bunch of posts I made back in 2004 when I was building my house.   I almost forgot about all of this!  It will take a minute to read everything but I encourage everyone too.  Some good info here and much of it still pertians to us!

http://www.fieldlines.com/user/joe4324/stories

OK, I have been heavily looking into many options for building,  such as materials for walls,  insulation and different methods to do things.   As time goes on I am learning much more about annual thermal storage.  I have found several sites on it, and even information on how to do it with completely normal looking (above grade) houses.   They have to be super insulated of course but not necessarily bermed or earth-sheltered though obviously if they are they will work better/faster.

I have been trying really hard to find a better material than EPS (extruded poly-styrene) foam panels.  This is what I used on my house.  They work *really* well,  but they are 3X more expensive now ($30 a sheet, vs $11 when I built) and well… they’re made of oil like everything else…  So I am desperately trying to find alternatives for us because its very likely no matter how we decide to build we will need to insulate something underground.

Here are some links I’d like everyone to read,  not that I want to endorse these things but its always nice to see innovative things being done.

Tire-Bale house
http://www.tirebalehouse.com/index.html

UltraTouch denim insulation
http://www.tirebalehouse.com/index.html

Huge PDF on solar heat storage
Passive annual solar heat storage PDF

True environmental costs is something so hard to really pin-down,  obviously the most sustainable home we can build is what we should shoot for,  but at what point do we draw the line?  If using 100% local/green materials for the entire project means we are left needing to maintain/heat our home more, or a lot more at what point does the extra work-cost-wood to burn negate the benefits of building the ‘building’ so green?

Its a tricky concept and I really don’t know where I feel the balance is yet.   Obviously using some non-green materials like EPS sucks,  but what do we do if we don’t have any alternatives,  or if the alternatives make our home need more energy to heat/cool?   When do the ends justify the means?

I don’t think this is something we should be worrying about too much just yet (leave that to me!) because we don’t really have a clear game-plan yet but it will be a consideration in the future.

It looks as if I will be robbed of the most exciting time of the spring,  Ithaca and surrounded area’s of upstate New York get ‘VERY’ few tornados.  Have a look-see!

‘joe

Tomorrow is a monumental event. Thus far our extensive, exhaustive and sometimes circus-like search for land has produced little in the way of results. However, Ithaca seems to be beckoning us like a siren calling through the misty seas. A call so strong even munchkins have flown in planes and business executives from Manhattan have taken off their suits in favor of knee-high rubber boots.

Tomorrow, the brothers and sisters of the still to be renamed Green Nettle Dacha shall all go together to look at a place that they just may decide to call home. That is of course barring unforeseen disasters such as broken limbs, chiggers and people who don’t like overly motivated and under skilled farmers.

Pictures will be forthcoming!

‘joe

So the Dacha still wants to be up north, but maybe a wee bit less north, since the growing season starts in June up in the ‘dacks. A new possibility, inspired by my reading of a book on Eco Village at Ithaca, the Dacha might want to be friends with the Eco Village. And here is weather situation for any carrots that might be interested: