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A do-it-yourself home needs trade-offs to get you the best value for your money.

For example, in the desert southwest, you need air conditioning, but can save hundreds of dollars in the dry summer with a swamp cooler. Likewise a passive water heater on the roof can slash the cost of heating water, and solar cells are quite efficient for *marginal* power needs, like an attic fan to blow out the hot air, and perhaps soon, electrolysis of water into hydrogen and oxygen.

But this means a slightly more expensive steel frame is better than a wooden frame, to hold that heavy stuff, and more, on your roof. Wood just can’t take it.

You also need to think beyond air convection for cooling and heating. Building can have top of the line a/c, turned down as far as it can be, but still feel warm or hot inside because of all the invisible infrared light bouncing around. That is, the air temperature can be 75F, but it feels like 80F because of the IR. So exterior surfaces that reflect IR are a must.

Instead of feet of fiberglass insulation, thin sheet aerogel insulates much better. 3mm instead of 3 feet. It should also be used to insulate your oven and refrigerator, making them much more energy efficient. Unfortunately it is still somewhat expensive and hard to get, though demand is huge.

As far as less IR is better in summer, IR heating in winter is also more efficient than doing it with air convection.

Oven stoves or masonry heaters are very popular in northern Europe and Russia, because they provide IR heating for 18-24 hours with minimal fuel that is thoroughly combusted, so there is little smoke pollution or ash. Unfortunately they can be heavy and a house needs to be designed around them.

(more traditional, elaborate ones)

http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/12/tile-stoves.html

(more modern ones)

http://www.inspirationgreen.com/masonry-heaters.html

Other things that should be taken into account with a do it yourself house are ease of maintenance, cost of maintenance, conduits for utilities and technology, basements and attics, storage and security, and durability.

I’m taking a different tact...

There is a place close to me that cuts rail road ties. I can but the short drop pieces for $20 for a 16’ trailer load (they sell it as firewood). I’m doing a concrete and concrete block perimeter and center beams. Then deck out the flooring and raise the walls as solid block to look like split logs, the timber frame the roof.

There is a metal roofing product that has two layers of metal with insulation bonded in the middle that I’m looking at as roofing.

I’m looking to built two of these about 20x32 with loft as guest houses. I’m thinking of extending the roof between the two as a cover outdoor area.

With everything becoming digital, we actually need much less space to live in. Twenty years ago, my home was filled with shelves of books, racks of compact discs and records, stacks of VCR tapes and whatnot.

If I was single and did not have a wife and kids, I would probably choose to live in a tiny house or apartment. Give me a strong internet connection and through my laptop, Kindle, tablet and smartphone, I would have access to all the books, music and entertainment I could ever consume in a lifetime.

Like a typical guy, I wouldn't even have curtains on the windows. Just a plain bed and a reading chair are all the furniture I need. I will go outdoors for fresh air more often. I will have a dog who will be loyal and always happy to see me come home. My dog will not care that I do not have a lot of space inside the home. The dog will curl by my feet while I read my Kindle, smoke my pipe and sip my bourbon.

The picture below is of a lady who is doing just that. Now I read the corresponding article and she's a bit of a nutjob but that's separate from the fact that she chooses to live in a simple, spartan home like this. I think it's a good idea, except I'd have more digital appliances in it and way less pillows.

Concrete tent gets mixed reviews from aid experts
Jan 2006

LONDON (AlertNet)
- Two British engineers have scooped a global innovation award for an inflatable concrete tent, designed for rapid deployment in disaster zones, but aid workers differ on its practical viability.

The inventors, Peter Brewin and William Crawford, say they saw a need for the structure given the inadequate protection provided by tents in the aftermath of disasters such as the Pakistan earthquake.

‘With shelter and medical facilities it is possible to rebuild shattered communities from day one of a crisis,’ they said in a statement.

The tent, made from fabric impregnated with concrete, can be put up by an untrained person in 40 minutes. It takes 12 hours for the concrete to set, but once done, the tent can last for up to 10 years.

The two designers, both 26, developed so-called Concrete Canvas during an industrial engineering course at the Royal College of Art in London. Their efforts were rewarded on January 26 at a ceremony in New York with the presentation of the top prize at the Saatchi & Saatchi Award for World Changing Ideas.

Media reports say the invention has attracted interest from the United Nations and several international humanitarian agencies.

JUST ADD WATER
‘If this was available now, we would buy 10 today,’ Monica Castellarnau, a programme director at M’decins Sans Fronti’res, was quoted as saying by Wired News. Its combination of ease of assembly with durability has also drawn praise.

The logic of Concrete Canvas is simple. Each unit ‘ weighing 227 kg (500 lb), making it light enough to transport by plane or truck - comprises an inflatable plastic inner bubble, wrapped in the treated fabric and packed in a plastic sack.

To deploy the tent, the sack is first filled with 145 litres (32 gallons) of water, which is absorbed by the cloth. The sack is then cut open, the tent is unfolded and the plastic bubble is inflated. The canvas then moulds around the bubble and sets to form the solid infrastructure of the tent.

The finished shelter covers some 16 sq meters (172 sq feet) of floor space and the cost per unit is estimated at ‘1,100 ($2,100).

But some aid officials are not convinced.

‘At first sight it looks marvellous,’ said Rishi Ramrakha, a logistics officer at the British Red Cross Society. ‘But the real practicalities look a bit difficult.’

According to Ramrakha, there are several central problems. First, the unit is too heavy to be carried easily into areas where there might not be access for aircraft or trucks. The second is the amount of water needed to erect each tent.

‘Where are you going to get 145 litres in a disaster zone?’ he asked.

Experts also point out that displaced populations are accommodated in temporary shelter because they will eventually be encouraged either to go back to where they came from, or to make homes and a new life in a better place.

The construction of permanent structures, particularly in conflict zones, could hamper that process, they say.

http://www.trust.org/item/?map=concr...om-aid-experts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Vb1pdvvoVoQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LBHVKFCoYFc