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  • From: Bob Waldrop <bob@bobwaldrop.net>
  • To: permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Earthships
  • Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2016 18:03:56 -0500

It's not always practical or economical to build a new dwelling. Indeed, remodeling/renovating an existing dwelling is often the easiest claim on the planet's resources it seems to me. There isn't enough energy or building materials to rebuild the entire built environment. A lot of permaculture has focused on building new homesteads in rural areas, but most of the world's population is urban.

In 2005 we spent about $15,000 renovating our 1929 Craftsman bungalow which sites on 1/7th of an acre close to downtown Oklahoma City. We used 90 tubes of caulk and 20 cans of foam on the cracks and seams. We insulated our original walls with cellulose insulation, which is ground up newspaper, and then built new walls 5" inside of our existing walls, and insulated those. That gives us 9 inches of insulation in our walls, R-33. We put 14 inches in the attic. We installed new windows (double pane, argon filled etc), and then made R-20 insulated shutters for each window. We ventilated the attic. We replaced 120 sq ft of brick on our south wall with glass (mostly double pane patio door glass). Because it was built before AC, we have nice overhangs on the windows so those windows are shaded in the summer. But we also have 4'x 8' insulated panels. During the winter, we put them up whenever the sun isn't shining through those windows, and take them down when the sun hits the glass. During the summer, we put them up during the day and take them down at night except during this part of the summer when it isn't cooling down much.

Ceiling fans in each room. Solar clothes dry for the wash. Outdoor kitchen for the summer. Wood burning stove for backup. Electric water heater with an on-off switch. Lots of little things that can be done in urban areas.

Bob Waldrop, Oklahoma City

http://www.ipermie.net


On 7/26/2016 5:02 PM, Lawrence London wrote:
On Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 3:44 PM, Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>
wrote:

My take on this is:

build small, exactly what space you must have
use extremely durable materials
use easy or no maintenance materials
use super insulation for year round comfort
use thermal heat storage in winter (the floor and walls (interior) that
serve to keep living space cool in summer combined with appropriate roof
overhangs

this really works
I can provide details on materials and building techniques if anyone is
interested; will post to the list.

Bona fide permaculture survival nuts and bolts dwelling design and
construction.

1)
Build on high ground well drained and substrate compacted
2)
Pour monolithic slab on grade (slab and footings one piece)
3)
Lay up exterior walls with heavy concrere blocks with door and window
openings
4)
Glue rigid foam insulation panels to interior surface of wall, 8" worth
minimum, preferably 10" or 12"
5)
lay up interior heavy concrete block wall to finish cavity wall with cavity
insulation
OR skip 4) and spray heavy duty waterproof foam insulation into wall cavity
after laying up interior wall
6)
glue 6-8" rigid foam insulation to floor, between rows of bricks or blocks
to support slab to be poured over insulation for final finished concrere
floor
7) pour finish floor - use 6000 psi indoor concrete without fiber(glass)
and finish to a glasslike finish - do what is necessary to prvent slab
cracking - this usually means sawing grooves in the slab.
8)
For a wooden floor simply glue pressure treated lumber to slab and nail
plywood subflooring to that. I would recommend spraying foam insulation
between the pressure treated lumber strips (1 1/2" gap) attached to
concrete floor, under the subflooring. I would spray foam then immediately
attach the subflooring so it can become glued to the wet insulation and
harden in place creating great floor structural rigidity. Then nail final
flooring down.
9) Finish framing the structure.
10) Insulate stud space wherever there are stud walls, if any, with spray
foam insulation, the heavy duty waterproof kind. Finish roof framing and
insulate the rafters the same way. Use plywood for ceiling then cover with
panelling of choice.
11) Roof structure with galvanized, prepainted 26 gauge (minimum) metal
roofing available anywhere.
12) Go minimalist an super mega hyper insulation. Concrere interior and
exterior walls, inexpensive, lifetime, zero maintenance, fireproof,
rotproof, attractive
no paint needed. Go for architectural overruns from concrete block
manufacturer/distributor; they always have them for way less than half full
retail or less.

I can provide even more detail regarding construction and materials.





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