Green housing?
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Green housing?
Does anyone know of a site that has plans (or like-minded individuals scheming plans) for efficient, ecologically friendly housing design?
I find this stuff very interesting myself. Thanks for the links, MikeC.
A structural engineering friend of mine has a client who is trying to build a 500 year house, or a house that would be livable for 500 years. Quite a prospect in Calgary Alberta, I'd imagine (FYI, it's cold up there!). Do you put in a natural gas furnace? What if there's no gas in 50 years? Do you wire it for electricity? How? I wish I knew more, but all info is second hand and pulled from my beer addled memory.
I find the idea of taking myself off of the power-grid very appealing. I intend to be rich enough one day to buy some property away from most people and make myself self-sustaining...without turning into a nutball. Should be fun!
A structural engineering friend of mine has a client who is trying to build a 500 year house, or a house that would be livable for 500 years. Quite a prospect in Calgary Alberta, I'd imagine (FYI, it's cold up there!). Do you put in a natural gas furnace? What if there's no gas in 50 years? Do you wire it for electricity? How? I wish I knew more, but all info is second hand and pulled from my beer addled memory.
I find the idea of taking myself off of the power-grid very appealing. I intend to be rich enough one day to buy some property away from most people and make myself self-sustaining...without turning into a nutball. Should be fun!
Depending on where you live, hopefully in the states, you may want to look in your area for "Home shows" which are trade shows that display vendors in the housing market.
I just went to one in my hometown in Michigan (which has a very depressed housing market and not a very ecologically friendly attitude), and there were many vendor selling green technologies, particularly for heating and energy usage. My brothers friend work for a company that sells corn stoves and these are becoming very popular in the midwest US where the bulk of the country's corn is produced.
But more importantly, you can talk with the builders directly about their "green" housing products and get better information than scouring the web on your own.
I just went to one in my hometown in Michigan (which has a very depressed housing market and not a very ecologically friendly attitude), and there were many vendor selling green technologies, particularly for heating and energy usage. My brothers friend work for a company that sells corn stoves and these are becoming very popular in the midwest US where the bulk of the country's corn is produced.
But more importantly, you can talk with the builders directly about their "green" housing products and get better information than scouring the web on your own.
I expect he will opt for a heat pump, after all the ground isn't going anywhere...A structural engineering friend of mine has a client who is trying to build a 500 year house, or a house that would be livable for 500 years. Quite a prospect in Calgary Alberta, I'd imagine (FYI, it's cold up there!). Do you put in a natural gas furnace? What if there's no gas in 50 years?