Hakan, Greg & April, Caroline, et. al. --
Thanks for your detailed responses -- I'll check out all those ideas and more. I agree that the mold problem with straw bales could have been mitigated with proper permeability, and also it's import- ant EXACTLY how you support the first course of bales -- they have to be well-raised above the slab. I'm very interested in radiant heat, so I'll check on pump lifetimes as a possible problem. I'm also planning on a steel roof, but I'm not sure what sort of support system to use (e.g., wood truss, steel truss, traditional rafters, etc). I'm not even sure if I'll be able to get load-bearing strawbale past the building dept., but many in the area (Tuolumne County, CA) have paved the way, so the answers should be forthcoming. Another interesting subject is the whole passive solar thing -- I'd love to use clerestory windows, light tunnels, etc. The house will be at 3000 ft. elevation (914 m), light snow in the winter, often 105 F (40 C) in the summer. -K Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
