04-17-2009, 03:10 AM
Sure, modern materials certainly have their place and will go a long way to making things more durable than bamboo treated in salt water. I only suggest that sort of thing as a last resort before living in the mud. The main key is the structure concept that works in a passive and energy efficient manner, mostly to keep you sensibly dry. As any real estate pro will tell you at the moment, we're sure as hell NOT short of housing, at least in the US or in this state. What we are short of is affordable housing--and that's a whole other matter. Much of what passes for affordable housing isn't really affordable, and there's a lot of people out there, like those Rob speaks of, that would be pleased as punch to be able to afford a couple of pieces of bamboo and a tarp.
It's all a cost/benefit analysis in the end. And as my new mantra for such things goes "if we discuss in terms of numbers, rather than adjectives" we draw closer to the best conclusion faster than elsewise. There's a lot we can learn from how problems were solved in the past. Often evolved techniques are much better than engineered ones.
It's probably good to discuss why houses are built up on posts in the tropics. It's basically because you want to live in a chimney. You want cold air under the shade of the house to be drawn into the structure through vents in the floor, where it heats up inside the structure(which is warmer--it's in the sun) and vents through the roof. If you add a woodstove, even a very small one, you accelerate the process greatly. Obviously the net effect is a drying one, as the cold air pulls moisture out of the structure as it warms and keeps the house dry. And it works. If you forgo the basic flow through principles and just build a modern structure on stilts you won't get a bit of the positive effects, and not a few worse ones.
Anyhow. Thought I would mention that. It's a powerful reason not to build on the ground.
It's all a cost/benefit analysis in the end. And as my new mantra for such things goes "if we discuss in terms of numbers, rather than adjectives" we draw closer to the best conclusion faster than elsewise. There's a lot we can learn from how problems were solved in the past. Often evolved techniques are much better than engineered ones.
It's probably good to discuss why houses are built up on posts in the tropics. It's basically because you want to live in a chimney. You want cold air under the shade of the house to be drawn into the structure through vents in the floor, where it heats up inside the structure(which is warmer--it's in the sun) and vents through the roof. If you add a woodstove, even a very small one, you accelerate the process greatly. Obviously the net effect is a drying one, as the cold air pulls moisture out of the structure as it warms and keeps the house dry. And it works. If you forgo the basic flow through principles and just build a modern structure on stilts you won't get a bit of the positive effects, and not a few worse ones.
Anyhow. Thought I would mention that. It's a powerful reason not to build on the ground.