Build a better house

[free radical]

If I was trying to save energy I'd start by building more efficient house
using these panels

Tridipanel - Home - Eco Friendly Home | Green Homes Building | Environmentally Friendly Home

[freebeard]

You know, I don't normally post in ecoRenovator or here because it seems to be remodeling oriented, not so much with new construction. That your post that sat for 16 days unanswered seems to confirm that.

I took a look at the link and find for instance

Tridipanel - Dome Homes - Eco Friendly Home | Green Homes Building | Environmentally Friendly Home

...which shows monolithic rather than panelized constructions. So what appeals? The panels or the tedious handcrafted finishing?

Back in the 1970s I worked on a number of types of panelized construction houses, to the point where I outfitted and operated a woodshop manufacturing 2x4 and plywood 'Pease'-style geodesic domes.

Factory built flat-pack housing is great. We built houses that went from a flat slab (w/ radiant heat) to a shell in 24 hours, closed to the weather in 2-4 days and complete in 30.

The inverse of the method you point to is foam blocks that assemble with voids you pour concrete into.

An alternative you can look into would be compressed earth blocks. All you need is dirt and hydraulic pressure. And a little Portland cement.

[cowmeat]

Unfortunately, eco-friendly houses are a tough sell to the general public, just like eco-friendly vehicles are. That makes ideas like those above take hold very slowly, or fizzle out and die altogether due to (as stated above) lack of interest.

Granite, cherry wood and stainless steel are sexy. Led lighting, foam insulated panelization, high efficiency appliances, sustainable products, xeriscaping, etc . . . . not so sexy. Buyers are looking for instant gratification, they don't want to hear about the benefits of double-insulated argon filled windows that have an ROI of fifteen years, since most people are only planning on owning a house five to ten years.

As for myself, I've always wanted to build a straw bale adobe walled house. It may never become a reality, but time will tell.

[freebeard]

Tell me about it. I geared up for a career in geodesic dome houses and it went ... nowhere.

The last job I had in the housing industry was as estimator for an engineered roofing truss company. Yuck. I was glad when they laid me off. The more complicated and un-aerodynamic the roof the more they can raise the price of the house (with the same floor plan).

I like cobb construction, with the clay and straw mixed. Whole bales would turn into a home for badgers or other critters.

[cowmeat]

The last job I had in the housing industry was as estimator for an engineered roofing truss company. Yuck.

Lol, don't hate! I love working in the truss industry and have been in it my whole life, at one time or another holding every position humanly possible, and two of my kids are in the truss estimating department at my work. It's about the most stable job in the building industry, if anybody's building anything, they need trusses!

[redpoint5]

Am I understanding the product correctly in that it acts as the frame, interior, and exterior walls all in 1?

Adding fixtures or other modifications to the home post-construction looks difficult. I'd engineer a conduit inside the panels, but then it would probably compromise the insulating and structural integrity.

[freebeard]

Lol, don't hate! I love working in the truss industry and have been in it my whole life, at one time or another holding every position humanly possible, and two of my kids are in the truss estimating department at my work. It's about the most stable job in the building industry, if anybody's building anything, they need trusses!

No time for hate, but it makes me sad that we continue down this path. Thirty-forty years of housing stock that should be pulled down and replaced.

The first time I worked in roofing trusses was in the 60s. We literally built the plant ourselves around us between orders. All summer we worked in a hot concrete box and made flat trusses when there were no customers. When the roof was up it got dark and noisy. Then the guy failed at business and as it wound down I rotated through every job in the place except accounting. I was driving the delivery truck (ten tons plus five ton trailer) when the brakes failed going up a hill. That was pretty much the nail in the coffin when he couldn't deliver his product.

The second time, in this century, the plant was part of a regional complex and there were lasers to mark the layout of the gang-nail plates on the assembly line. But there was no feedback at all on how I was doing my job before "Totally unacceptable! Clear out your desk" right at the end of the fiscal year. So I went downscale to being a clerk in a thrift store.

Anyway, if you put the same floorplan under an engineered-truss roof and a geodesic (or even Monolith) dome; the dome house will be warmer, quieter and cleaner. That's just the way it is. And you don't get blind-sided by wind loads on the gable ends.

My son bought a house with a truss roof—he went up in the crawl space to the Ethernet cabling, and swore he'd never have to to go there again. That's space he's paying for. With a mortgage.

I looked again at the Tridepanel website. It looks like their technology would make an [irregular] hexagon panel with 10-11° edges, that would bolt or glue together. A skylight/vertical axis windmill at the summit and your done.

redpoint5 -- At the floor-planning stage you can arrange to have wet-walls and ducting in the interior walls. Plus a doorbell and light at the entrance.

[MJamson]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Unfortunately, eco-friendly houses are a tough sell to the general public,

erm . . . WOW

That is certainly not the case within Europe. My parents recently moved and during both house inspections the houses were given energy ratings.

Speaking to the agent the rating plays a huge role in the sale, people will accept a higher price for a better rating, or knock down the price due to a bad rating.

I dont know about now, but in England several years ago owners could recieve a subsidy for improving the rating of their house.

Mike

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by MJamson

erm . . . WOW

That is certainly not the case within Europe. My parents recently moved and during both house inspections the houses were given energy ratings.

Speaking to the agent the rating plays a huge role in the sale, people will accept a higher price for a better rating, or knock down the price due to a bad rating.

I dont know about now, but in England several years ago owners could recieve a subsidy for improving the rating of their house.

Mike

Energy is cheap in the U.S., and we don't like to think about the future. 2 things that work against an efficiency mindset.

If energy were expensive, and we knew we would eventually have to work to pay off our credit cards, then it would be more of a concern.

People don't think about the future; about the total cost of ownership for homes, for transportation, or for marriages. They just want what makes them feel happy now.

That said, many utility companies here offer free home efficiency inspections along with rebates for efficiency improvements, such as better insulation, or more efficient heating and cooling systems. But, most people don't care about these things.

[freebeard]

It's funny because it's true.

My utility company offers electricity at 5.27¢ per kilowatt-hour and still has an energy efficiency office, that offers year-over-year reviews and probably some incentives. They do it because it's cheaper to stem the tide than build out capacity.


Giant graphene ultracapacitor airships to become the cargo heavyweights of the future - Factor

Here is an effort from Europe that updates Bucky Fuller's air-deliverable housing concept from the 1920s. No dropping a bomb to excavate the foundation; but while the house may had energy efficiency added in deep in the design process the initial overriding concept is old, lumpy and poorly lit. Because people just know that's what a house looks like.

OTOH Graz, Austria has this floating in the river:

http://www.travel2austria.com/i/murinselmurisland3.jpg

It's a floating bridge/civic center, not a house.