the budget is not relevant without knowing the size or sophistication of the
fixtures and fittings. Beyond that there are a huge number of things to
consider.
In south Texas it is cooling which will be the big cost. you want to start with
orientation of the building to things like the sun. You want to consider things
like the roof overhang to minimize summer solar gains but permit winter solar
gains.
You might like to consider something like adobe but more waterproof so heavy
rains won't wash it away, maybe really thick concrete walls with the inside
well foam insulated or even stone construction. Stone can probably be had
fairly cheaply if you don't have to quarry it. Then other passive design
features like a very light coloured roof to reflect heat.
Finally, I expect I would investigate geothermal energy recovery. If you have
ground water or a stream or water course near by this could be relatively
inexpensive to install but even traditional geothermal, although expensive to
install will ultimately allow comfort and much reduced operating costs and
those will diminish as fuel continues to rise in price and it will continue to
rise in price.
If you get any amount of winter sun then the mass of a heavy masonry structure
will help store what heat you can accumulate. A good air tight foam insulation
will help you retain both that heat and the cool.
----- Original Message -----
From: Shane Hecker
To: blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2009 6:52 PM
Subject: [BlindHandyMan] building a house
I'm planning to build a house in a few months. This question will likely
invite some debate, which I think is good. If you wanted to build a house as
energy efficient as possible, without breaking the bank, how would you do
it? To make things simpler (or perhaps more difficult), there is a $80000
budget for building.
Shane
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