PureCountry
Well-known member
Hey all, just curious if anyone lives in, or knows someone who lives in a 'green' home, be it straw-bale construction, solar-powered, etc. Just looking for ideas.(And pics :wink: )
Not too far from our pasture is a home thats all "green" built into a hill,its only one sided and solar heated,has quite a few other Green perks to it,I'm not too sure of all the details,Les maybe able to tell you more about the Fetaz home.PureCountry said:Hey all, just curious if anyone lives in, or knows someone who lives in a 'green' home, be it straw-bale construction, solar-powered, etc. Just looking for ideas.(And pics :wink: )
When I lived in the Taos area, I appraised quite a few unusual houses, most of them green in some way. The Reynolds Earthships were interesting, and were some of the more creative usages of recycled materials. I recall one southern facing wall that was constructed of longneck been bottles. the bottom of the bottles were facing the outside, with them mortared in place. A line of mortar was placed so the bottles and mortar were smooth and flush with each other. they put some vermiculite around the bottle and did a second mortar on the inside around the neck of the bottle. this allowed the bottle to receive light an heat and the open end allowed the heat to circulate through convection. I do NOT know how they handled dusting and spiders etc. Reynolds also used tires as a structural component in the rear of a berm house. lay tires on the ground, fill with soil (preferably adobe/caleche) then stack them further until you have a fairly high wall, then plaster over the entire wall. It is structurally sound and will provide a good, unmovable interior wall. I am not sure how well it works if you have a lot of subsurface water, but in New Mexico that was not a concern.PureCountry said:Hey all, just curious if anyone lives in, or knows someone who lives in a 'green' home, be it straw-bale construction, solar-powered, etc. Just looking for ideas.(And pics :wink: )
PureCountry said:Hey all, just curious if anyone lives in, or knows someone who lives in a 'green' home, be it straw-bale construction, solar-powered, etc. Just looking for ideas.(And pics :wink: )
Mrs.Greg said:Not too far from our pasture is a home thats all "green" built into a hill,its only one sided and solar heated,has quite a few other Green perks to it,I'm not too sure of all the details,Les maybe able to tell you more about the Fetaz home.PureCountry said:Hey all, just curious if anyone lives in, or knows someone who lives in a 'green' home, be it straw-bale construction, solar-powered, etc. Just looking for ideas.(And pics :wink: )
Organic material should never have ground contact. Regardless of what it is you are using, if it is organic, it will wick moisture into the walls, causing mold, rot, etc. It is also an avenue for termites. And termites will attack adobe as well as wood. Termites are even noted for living off manure in the fields. And remember, straw is not a structural material. You still have to build in accordance with post and beam structural guidelines, with straw filling the voids.PureCountry said:Some say straw-bale is better than the tires, because they're just so light and easy to work with. And tamping tires full of clay is very labor intensive. But others maintain that the stucco usually cracks on straw bales and allows moisture in to cause mold, mildew and rot.
Goodpasture said:Organic material should never have ground contact. Regardless of what it is you are using, if it is organic, it will wick moisture into the walls, causing mold, rot, etc. It is also an avenue for termites. And termites will attack adobe as well as wood. Termites are even noted for living off manure in the fields. And remember, straw is not a structural material. You still have to build in accordance with post and beam structural guidelines, with straw filling the voids.PureCountry said:Some say straw-bale is better than the tires, because they're just so light and easy to work with. And tamping tires full of clay is very labor intensive. But others maintain that the stucco usually cracks on straw bales and allows moisture in to cause mold, mildew and rot.
For the berm house, tires, being petroleum based, will contain the soil really well, are virtually impervious to rot and infestation, and can be stuccoed or plastered with minimal fuss......albeit a tremendous amount of labor.
If you have a front end loader and a tiller on a tractor, and provided you have a good mixture of clay and sandy soils available, you might try doing a rammed earth house. They will be equal too or better than adobe, if you place them on a heavy enough slab/footing, you should keep the ground from contacting it, and when they are cured adequately you can use a Portland based stucco to finish it.