View Single Post
Old 07-30-11, 06:51 AM   #6
RobertSmalls
Journeyman EcoRenovator
 
RobertSmalls's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Buffalo, NY
Posts: 344
Thanks: 3
Thanked 17 Times in 15 Posts
Default

Thanks for bumping this while I was passing through. This is the kind of house that I'm thinking about building. It doesn't meet Passivhaus standards, but that's fine. It comes close enough.

The plans are available online. I see it's just over 1000 square feet.

I'm surprised: by going with a 1:2 aspect ratio (24'x48', instead of 34'x34'), they only increased the perimeter of the house (with which scales cost and heat loss) by about 10%.



I stared at this picture for a while. I'm not saying that it matters much, but I will point out that this house is terribly ugly. One reason is that it isn't finished. A house needs more than a 1' concrete footer and a dead flat, monocrop lawn. A garden, patio, or shrubbery would help out a great deal. Also, the black "thermal air panel" damages the symmetry of the south wall.

I want a house with an exterior that evokes durability. The unevenly washed wood paneling does not. The sheet metal roof works for me, but clashes with the siding. To each, his own. But I'm getting ideas for a future build. Maybe a "Quonset hut in quonset hut" design, with a hard vacuum between the two huts. Or cellulose.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sid View Post
I guess I have a zero (really positive) energy home, since my solar electric system is generating about three times as much electricity as I use. There is an eight article description of it in the "Rants and Raves" section of my website, whenever my links are allowed to show.
stonemarmot.com/rants
RobertSmalls is offline   Reply With Quote