[CobaltBlue]

One of the ways that people who tout unconventional home designs explain the higher cost of building them is that in the long run they save you money.

I don't think I would have gone for the hay bales, but I was interested in a design that had a sort of double envelope, sort of two sets of outer walls with an insulating space in between. My husband put his foot down so we live in an ordinary house, but after reading this article maybe it's for the best.

Reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright houses. He was a genius, but his roofs always leak.

[dalereed]

"Reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright houses."

Knew him personally and worked on his personal house.

Durring WW2 I remember him coming to the house and pleading with my dad to do some of his nutty projects.

[Paul C. Jesup]

I will tell you that double outer wall design is really a useless waste of money. If you want better energy conservation, buy a higher grade of insulation.

[Mamzelle]

re: Reminded me of Frank Lloyd Wright houses. He was a genius, but his roofs always leak. )))

Almost all of them leak, and not only that--his cantilevered decks won't stay up anymore without reinforcing them. "Falling Water" has a new network of steel supports that have seriously uglified the structure. "Falling concrete..."

And the furniture he had made to complete the interiors is generally miserably uncomfortable.

I dunno--is it brilliant to create beautiful failures? His creations are lovely to see--but aren't they really unlivable? The first obligation of a builder is to keep out the elements and withstand time...Wright hasn't done either...

You can see modern inflence in many uncomfortable houses. The vaulted ceilings that sap the heat away from the bottom, making most vaulted rooms cold in winter. And the prodigious use of glass overheats the rooms in summer (idiots always point gather the western sun--sunsets and all...). Not to mention the bleaching effect of all that glare, and trying to keep that glass clean. I watch the MacMansions made of glass go up on the lakefronts, only to see awnings and shades applied immediately after finishing. Got to keep all that wonderful light out after spending a million to bring all that wonderful light *in*... And the window-washers make a fortunes.

Anyway, rant off.

[PA Engineer]

The style you are talking about is an Envelope home. My wife and I lived for a year in Rapid City, South Dakota where we rented one of these homes.

The home had a two floor south facing sun room, one wood stove and about 3KW of resistive heat. It worked like a charm and was very impressive. The design is suppose to take advantage of passive ground-loop heating and cooling in combination with super insulation (R60 ceiling and R40 walls - all glass wool). Rapid City has only two seasons (July and winter) and with the plentiful sunlight the home was very comfortable.

I could find very few papers on this type of construction, hence I do not know how applicable it is to other regions of the country.