So many options…

April 1, 2008 by joe4324

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.

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