Posted by: Earl
on Feb 10, 2009
Blog #2 in my home building adventure - I know where I want to live but can I build the home I want there? I want to live in a passive solar SEE home. I have the general area in a wonderful city picked out. But guess what? I can't find any custom building lots that can be made available other than something way beyond my price range and with covenants requiring a "McMansion". I'm not planning to live in a tiny cottage but I don't need 5,000 sq. ft. either.
There are some terrific planned neighborhoods that I would be happy to live in. The exterior can be finished so it will fit right in with all the existing homes. Whoa there partner! The developer has only given rights to build there to certain builders. They build really nice homes and are even semi-custom. They'd be happy to move some walls, windows, and doors around. Just make certain it is a modification to one of the standard home plans that have been approved for the neighborhood. Build a passive solar to my specifications and my floor plan? - "Why would you want to do that?" Use SIP construction for the exterior shell? - "We don't do that. I can build you a wonderful stick home." I have a feeling that finding the building site where I can have it done my way is going to be one of the most challenging aspect of this project. Despite the value that a SEE house has from perspective of energy savings, cost to operate, carbon footprint, and more, there will be skepticism from the general public, builders, developers, and lenders until they see proof of salability, maintenance costs, and resale values.
What if developers could be convinced to designate a "phase" of their development for SEE homes? It wouldn't take long for the results to start coming in - cost to build, cost to heat and cool, cost to maintain, and ease of sale.
I think that I am going to need to make this my mission. I have a few builders in mind to propose this too. I'll keep you posted.
Note: The term SEE has been coined by a Maine based home builder, Thomas Peterson. Briefly, Thomas is proposing a standard for new and renovated buildings that is targeted for energy efficiencies that are 75% greater than National Building Code (NB C) standards. You can learn more about this at the SEE group formed at http://seadog8278.ning.com or on the Pickens Plan community site.
Posted by: Earl
on Jan 16, 2009
This is the first of what is likely to become a long series of posts. I have made a decision. I want to build a new, energy efficient home. I do not yet have a timeline but I can anticipate that this will take the better part three years. If I can do it soon I will be happy but I don’t want to set an unreasonable expectation. It may actually take longer because I anticipate a great deal of difficulty in finding the lot that will meet my requirements. I promise a blog on this subject soon.
I plan to document the entire process in detail and share on www.energyinfoforyou.com. I’ll use the blog to highlight some items of broad interest. It is my desire to build a hybrid solar home with both passive and active elements. I also plan to utilize some geo energy aspects.
Please share your experiences as well.
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