Sustainable Housing

I like hearing your opinions.
Would you spend the money for a sustainable house?
Why/why not?

Solar power
Straw bale
Insulated concrete forms
Etc.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• sustainable
• development
• housing
• environment
• decky11
• survey
• research
• canada

[DimmedDiamond]

I'm an amateur survivalist that has twinges of post-apocalyptic flights of fancy, so a home that is self sufficient/replenishing (solar powered) sounds appealing to me. But I'm odd like that.

23, and immature.

[funkyfresh42718]

I wouldn't spend very much money at all and still make a home that is environmentally friendly. I would spend the money on a piece of property that has the things I would need. Mature standing timber that can be thinned out responsibly and not clear cut. Maybe a pond or a creek/river, and about 10-20 acres to put some small livestock on. I am 27 and married with 2 kids and my wife and I are looking to do what I just proposed. We want to build a cordwood/cob home on the property.

[microchrome]

I'm 41 I don't see anything wrong with using 2by4 stud construction with T-1-11 ... It's been used for years. The thing is why not build a home 500Sq Ft instead of a 2500 Sq Ft home? Why do you need all that space? The key is making it smaller ... Using passive solar and running lights on solar PV 12 Volt LED to reduce the carbon foot print. Extra money would go into buying low flow toilets and PV/Passive solar. Cheers!

[trybal007]

Personally, i'd build a home made of ICF, using a passive solar corridor with an aquaponics setup. Plus a corrugated polycarbonate insert for the cold cloudy days.

If you want to go off-grid, then you should be growing all of your own food, other than purchasing sugar and flour.

With the way this country (Canada) is going, i would move towards being independent.

BTW, im a single 28 year old male. :)

[RonRay]

I'm 61. If I were to buy and/or build a home now, I would first consider the location, as environment starts with location. I would then focus on energy efficiency and the home's ability to protect me from the elements. I would design it so as to have all the modern and elaborate (yet affordable) comforts, but also be relatively easy to naturally heat and cool if the shit hits the fan (asteroid, war, economy collapse, etc.); central heat & cooling, as well as 'natural' (solar, etc.) heat/cool.

[jannevellamo]

I'm 45 and stingy as hell. Also, I'm broke. If I were to build anything, I would use recycled and natural materials as much as possible. A log house made of timber felled on the lot would be one solution, provided there's enough trees. Also, the insulating properties of water reed seem to be on par with commercial products, so I might just do something with that. A roof? Perhaps even the walls.

[topaze221]

Hi, I am 58 and I learned a lot about energy efficient homes and build it yourself homes and you save money in the long run. The best homes have sourthern exposure and a lot of glass on that side. so yes if I had the money I would spend it on the environmentally friendly one.

[peazythatsmeazy]

I wrote for Green Business Quarterly and have interviewed CEOs for lots of green companies. Long story short: you almost always make up the upfront costs of building green in the long run. It's a shame most people are turned off by bigger upfront costs, especially in the commercial strata, when they are saved in the long run. If you have the $, green is more responsible, environmentally and financially.

Age: 25

[permalove1]

Hi, I'm 35..

(i know this is an old post, but oh well)

You seem to be saying the ecologically superior home costs more.. I am not convinced this is truly the case. Strawbale construction in a place like Canada or the US can be quite inexpensive.

Using materials like cob is an exchange of money for time - you could build a cob walled structure almost for free if you pitched a tepee next to the site and took your time doing it.

[dharmapunk777]

Green roof tops are cool too. And building your house into an ecosystem or planting a mini ecosystem generates its own water filtration system.