ABOUT BUILDING A NEW HOUSE: The Gaia house
POINTS TO CONSIDER
ABOUT BUILDING A NEW HOUSE:
I admit it. I made a mistake on my house. I realize now that it's an SUV of a house. I mean that they took the best engineering available, threw it away, and built as if nothing but ego mattered.
. . The design is typical of new stuff: a dozen lean-to-looking additions, each with its own roof-plane. As many facets as a tarpaper diamond --an extra job for roofers (on your $).
. . Animals evolve to suit conditions extant in their ancestor's times. We know better --or we should. We can design for the future's conditions. But people don't! Their houses are not designed for the conditions that will prevail during its life! Not even close.
. . Design better for ethical/ecological reasons:
The U.S. hauls away 11 million tons of asphalt roofing waste per year. That's 7 to 10% of landfill space over the last 40 years; doubtless more lately.
. . A lower attic heat gain in summer can prevent a bit of global warming CO2.

. . But do it also for selfish reasons:
. . Gas/oil prices will shoot thru the roof in a few years (taking electricity w it). Imagine looking at your bills with an extra zero behind the price!

. . --------------- & save $!
. . COST AVOIDANCES: My spreadsheet shows an $8,500 per year difference between my ideal design & my current house! In 10 years (given an increase in power-costs), the house will have paid for itself! Get savings on:

  1. GAS & ELECTRIC! Get a *front-load washer & a gas dryer. Use elec'ty for lawn mowing.
  2. MAINTAINANCE: attention to possible water-damage. See the NO-list.
  3. FIRE INSURANCE: (to get *total avoidance, you hafta *not have a mortgage --they'll insist that you have insurance on your concrete walls anyway.)
  4. ROOF: should be steel, probably shingle-style, which can mimic any look. Guaranteed 50 years! It costs a lot for that crew of men to tear off your roof every 5-10 years!
    . . http://www.metalroofing.com
    . . http://www.metalworksroof.com
  5. WORK: mowing --have a decent size, so you can mow w/o smokey engines! Use electric --they last decades not 3-4 years. Or no lawn!
  6. FOOD: ok, you can grow a garden anywhere, but I want a solar lean-to to grow 'em into January, & start early too! Helps heat & insulate the house, too. Entry can be thru it, for a nice, quick halfway protection from the storms. Non-taxed, as it's a garden, not a "room"; tho you can sit out there almost all year, on just a dozen concrete paver-blocks.
THE ALL-IMPORTANT "NO" LIST.
None of:

. . Wall2Wall carpet & millions of asthma/allergy-causing mites / ceiling fans paint / outdoor wood / moldy grouting / moldy ductwork / uncertified plywood (formaldehyde etc gas. Some plywood is now ok.) / Damage/fire insurance (keep only accident) / Tar-paper roof! / siding / Rain gutters / driveway? / sidewalk?

. . Wall-to-wall is a tyranny! Large unused carpet can be found at garage sales; maybe add edging. No "installation"! Easy to take outside to wash a spot with a hose! And to freeze those mites in the winter!

SPECS or INITIAL IDEAS FOR THE NEW HOUSE:

. . eg: 30' X 40' =1200 SqFt + 360 up-bedroom (12X30) =1560 + "sumps" + hanging-closets? Destratifier from top of bedrooms --but sound-insulate / small double-inslated refer --SunFrost? / (legal requirement for 2nd exit?)
. . Heat-Pump from deep well (or lake/stream).
. . Lay a layer of foam over the underground water-supply pipe from street, & around/under the solar lean-to, for winter moderating.
. . WASHER: countr-sink down a foot; dryer on rack above it.
. . Cistern/tank?: collect rain-etc water to a tank 4 toilet & plant-watering?
. . Have few incandescent lite-bulbs --all instant flourescent.
. . Handy *outdoor 2nd range for summer. Black concrete weather-box over small elec range, w front door.(+solar oven?)
. . Storage shelves in garage, or rolling units, like library archives, 4' X 4' X 8', of 3 sheets plywood.
. . DRAPES: FiberGlas or other fireproof. Leather sofa-throws. Sprinkler in top closet? (~$2K installation, usually. Much less for just a couple heads)
. . Split-level? Put rear half down a step or2 (to lower t roof & get sun further back) (need a rail. change of flooring?)
. . FLOORING: tile. unglazed Red spanish for entry. White/lite elsewhere. Other?: brick, lite oak, / non-slip small carpet in places. Freeze 'em once each winter! Avoid nightmare of water-flow between carpet & wood floor!
. . "WALLING": bleached concrete, shingle design? Brick area. Drapery/tapestry/ carpet hangings
. . WIRING/PLUMBING put into 1" X 2" running niches?
. . Skylite? piped thru *front wall to 2nd bath + kitchen.
. . ROOF: Light-colored steel. Donno: shingle or standing-seam?
. . KITCHEN: Tile behind Stove + counters. SSteel counter beside sink, draining right in! Power plugs hang from above island, which is on (levered?) wheels. Disposer piped at gd angle down to bed above garden.
. . BATHS well-carpeted on walls & ceiling & tank. *Very quiet toilets, + a micro-bowl upstrs!

. . "HANGING CLOSETs": an extension off upstairs bed wall. Not "floor-space"; No floor = NO taxes!! (safety bars/chicken-wire & drapery under). 5 X 22': six 2' doors (strong hinges) on large bedrm side (5X14). With 2'-wide linen drawers.
. . OR, if a single-story, w a high south side to catch sun: supplimentary "closets" (a bar hanging clothes) can be lowered on a counter-balanced steel cord, to eye-level. They're hidden when up.
. . Four 2' doors on small bedrm side (5X8). Each with 2 3ft hanger-brackets pointing in. When opened, lotta clothes swing into room. Inside that, 4' sideways hanger can slide forward like office data-racks!
. . STAIRS: 10" rise, no vertical risers. cantilevered on wall? Or spiral?
. . 4 or 5 "SUMPs" (storage) to legal limit of tax-defined "basement sq footage".

CLIPS: Unventing Attics In Cold Climates

http://homeenergy.org/archive/hem.dis.anl.gov/eehem/99/991111.html
. . Don't use asphalt shingles. They have many disadvantages anyway. They burn. They are sensitive to ultraviolet light. They can't be made to last more than 15 to 20 years--despite what the warranty says. Hail just kills them, and they off-gas horrible stuff.
. . Ice damming can be controlled by reducing heat flow to the shingles through air sealing and insulating to more than R-40, rather than by flushing heat away from the roof shingles with venting. The net effect is the same--the roof shingles are cold--but by eliminating venting, we save a great deal of energy.
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