bow-tie
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2004
- Messages
- 688
...as for insulating value of soil, it is a huge advantage. But only if done right so you don't have the issues many others have spoken of...
As for passive solar, south facing windows, as you already mentioned, with enough thermal mass to absorb the heat from the sun during the day. It will then release that heat at night. Just so you have the right amount of thermal mass, it is very comfortable and lowers both cooling costs and heating costs...
In my estimation, over 90%+ of houses built in Iowa include basements, so I would like to think what I want to do isn't a great departure from the standard building protocol performed in this area. In my eyes, the greatest departure from the norm would be an absence of an 'upstairs'. The basement would be the living quarter, with a standard pitched roof covered in steel instead of shingles. In 2008, we put steel on the house have now, and I would do it again if given the choice.
What intrigues me about this design is the possible efficiency of building into the earth. When it's hotter than billy blazes here in July/August, our current basement is cool (but humid). However, in the winter, it's very cold. I would guess these characteristics (humidity / cold in winter) are based on how the basement was constructed, i.e., with inadequate interior/exterior basement insulation. The way I figure it, if I can control the humidity, and the lack of heat in the winter (hence the south facing windows and thermal mass), we'd be good to go. I would likely use a good roof overhang to keep the July/August sun out of the windows, plus shades/curtains and some strategically placed shade trees.
Geothermal sounds awesome, but it scares me a bit. It's so expensive and I don't know of anyone, around my area at least, who has had it long enough to say it was a good investment. There seems to be so many things that could go wrong. But a local contractor has been installing a boatload of them. My buddy is putting it in his house currently. I would like to keep it low tech, to some degree, if possible. But I want to stay open minded.
Zathras - thanks for the heads up on the I-joists. I need to look into those.
p.s. - you guys KICK A$$ with all of your feedback. It's very appreciated. Keep it comin'.