moving to be more green

[jdirgo]

Unfortunately, the only person selling the "air to water" machines on the Big Island (or at least the only one I ever heard of) up and vanished a year or two ago. It was a great idea and I was sorry that it didn't catch on more.

John Dirgo, R, ABR, e-PRO
Aloha Coast Realty, LLC
808-987-9243 cell
http://www.alohacoastrealty.com

[lostboystoy]

ok now the wheels are spining....you guys rock...I am getting alot of info..would still like to see some plans on container homes.
Is their anyone in puna-web that has built a container home? I am looking at other options as well, like bamboo, and as much as i dont like kit homes, their prices are attractive for someone like myself who is on a budget,
We have decided it would be to hard on our horses to move them so we are just bringing our dogs and our blue and gold macaw.
[8D]

setting my soul free....

[csgray]

There are some companies that do live-in containers commercially. They remind me of the single wide trailer I lived in one summer in the seventies, only way sturdier.

These people quoted me around $19,000-29,000 for the 8x40 one bedroom, bath and kitchenette, off grid options available. I figured put a big roof over it and a lanai/outdoor living room and you'd be set.
http://www.globalportablebuildings.com/

These people are in New Zealand:
http://www.containerarchitecture.co.nz/p...index.html

So is a company called Royal Wolf but I can't find my bookmark for them.

This isn't a container but is in the same ball park:
http://www.houseinabox.com/


Carol

[JWFITZ]

Don't do the yurt, it's nuts. You'll die of hoof rot.

I've been involved in green building for 20 years, and it is completely possible to put together a very fine small stickbuilt structure with no compromises, no land clearing, and a very minimal carbon footprint for under 20000 if you know what you're doing. With a hand you'll be able to move in under 2 months. It's very easy to spend way too much money on stuff that is ill thought out, and you can do with much less impact on the off grid power generation if you design a house that needs very little power. I did just that this winter on my own property, and would invite any questions about how to to so, as it's an issue I'm passionate about.

Take care, do lots of research, and question all advise!

Jay FitzGerald
oarclub@hotmail.com

[lostboystoy]

Ok I'll bite...So how much square footage are we talking about for 20000?
And I am really interested in doing solar? I am kinda avoiding wind turbine, just because of how strong some of the winds can be.
So I probablly should post a new thread for the following question but I will try this way first. Any advice Should I build or buy a pre-existing structure?

setting my soul free....

[JWFITZ]

I think with todays prices you had best figure 50 to 75 a square foot in materials. You can certainly be livable for closer to 50. A quality roof will be a major portion of the cost, but cannot be compromised on--4 foot overhangs all around lends to a large footprint. The key to low cost building is to engineer all rooms around dimensional lumber sizes, so that you don't need to cut--or waste, a single piece of plywood sheathing or hardly a stud. This saves a great deal in material costs. Lumber prices are on the rise with inflation in general, and it's wise to move forward.

As for the frame structure, a timber frame roof system similar to traditional Japanese style farm homes works well. While timber frame construction often requires large beams, with knowledge one can laminate these on site with structural adhesives, hence keeping with lumber sizes that can be car-top-ed and hand carried into the build sight, doing away with the need for big driveways, big trucks, clearing, cranes and the like. If one builds in a modular manner, which works well in the tropics, with a central living structure of perhaps 500 square feet or less--other outbuildings can be connected at later times with little cost if the need arises. If you want to go green, you must first go small.

I build catchment systems with ferrocement tanks on site. Not hard to do, but admittedly backbreaking. Still, my tanks is tucked into the side of the cabin with a slate lid that makes for my sunporch. Much nicer than the cheesy swimming pool thing in the yard that likely costs more.

Of course finish details can add a great deal of cost or next to none. In my case, I'm fortunate enough to have the skills and tools, and my trimout will cost near to nothing, as I've milled up a large standing dead ohia on my property that will supply most all finish material. I'd guess that in many cases that opportunity exists, but involves a fair bit of sweat and sawdust.

My background is in boat-building and cruising sailboats. There is no off grid structure on land that is nearly as demanding in efficiency nor faces near as demanding conditions as a cruising sailboat. Moving from that perspective to land based structures makes for a unique perspective--that of getting an awful lot out of very little. You need very little space if it is well thought out. See "Sea-Steading" on amazon. That's me, if that sort of thing turns your crank.

Solar works poorly in this area, as does wind most of the time. I'll install both in the following months, but it's best to design from the start a home that needs very little of either.

If you own neither QUALITY tools or a reliable vehicle your build cost will certainly be higher.

[Nate SC]

You could also frame a roof structure from pipe and just use standard pipe flanges on the end and elbows for the curves. Then you could cover it in corugated plastic sheets, using heavy duty straps to connect it to the pipe frame. It may require a 2x2 wooden frame to screw the plastic sheets to though, maybe not. The material used in green house rafters can be welded to containers and used in all types of ways to make roofs and over-hangs. You can look at David M's project and see pipes used in roof construction. The wood framing idea is from the past, this is new materials with new thinking. Check out google sketch for some really cool ideas. Think bigger, think of new ways to over come old problems. Don't just keep making the same thing again and again. sorry for the rant,

[JWFITZ]

You could use pipe, but in this climate it's going to be prone to sweat, rot adjacent areas, and beg termites to the rot, so I'd be cautious of that. As well, it will be ugly, which would bother me, and will likely require an inside treatment where a cleanly built timber frame roof with ACX and the A face down may only need paint to look nice, if that. While any new idea is good, but I'm a wood builder, and very fast with it, and that alone often saves a good deal of cost over trying something new. Speed of build matters, as if one is building for oneself on doesn't want to absorb the cost of a protracted campout or renting elsewhere. Ultimately the proof is in the puddin' and what-ever is most cost effective wins. I personally feel it's very hard to beat stick frame construction all things being considered.

[YurtGirl]

Some of these posts just crack me up... Everyone has their own ideas I guess, but lostboy, don't give up on your yurt dream. Yurts have been around for over 1000 years. The design would not still be around and spread to every climate if it weren't a darn good one. It is not damp in a yurt, with a dome that opens the ventilation is fantastic, as it acts as a type of convection movement of the air flow. Here in Hawaii, most houses have screens with no glass for tall ceiling windows, or louvres, that certainly don't keep out the vog, so keep perspective. Yurts are a fantastic option here in Hawaii. You can have your platform build, yurt bought, set-up, permitted and plans drafted and stamped, cesspool engineered, plot plan designed and water catchment specs for about $35,000. Then you have electric, plumbing and installation of cess/septic and catchment. It can also be built in a WEEK and easily moved forward in phases from there if you're on a budget and are capable of living off the land a bit for a while. And yes, they are movable and yes, there are ways around permitting them since they can be quite portable.

quote:

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Originally posted by JWFITZ

Don't do the yurt, it's nuts. You'll die of hoof rot.

I've been involved in green building for 20 years, and it is completely possible to put together a very fine small stickbuilt structure with no compromises, no land clearing, and a very minimal carbon footprint for under 20000 if you know what you're doing. With a hand you'll be able to move in under 2 months. It's very easy to spend way too much money on stuff that is ill thought out, and you can do with much less impact on the off grid power generation if you design a house that needs very little power. I did just that this winter on my own property, and would invite any questions about how to to so, as it's an issue I'm passionate about.

Take care, do lots of research, and question all advise!

Jay FitzGerald
oarclub@hotmail.com

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