You already know that this blog is all about my family’s quest to build an affordable, cool, energy efficient house out of recycled stuff like shipping containers and aircraft hangar components, that makes maximum use of earth friendly design, passive solar heating and cooling, geothermal exchange, energy management, and common-sense sizing of the house for it’s designated use and the users. Namely… US!
Where do you put a home like that? Well, around here, it’s located in:
“Not in MY backyard, you Bastard!”
But, I’m gonna do it anyway… somewhere, somehow, someday… soon!
The most natural place for a home like this is on a south-facing lot. Duh!
If you ask the neighbors, however, the best place to put my house is anatomically impossible! Go figure!
But, the house is gonna get built, and I’m gonna have to heat and cool it, or my wife will kill me two times!
So, how will I do it?
As you’ve probably guessed… I’m a big fan of making somebody else do all the work, so I guess that I should heat and cool my house in a similar fashion! Enter “Geothermal Energy.”
When most people think of geothermal energy they think of massive magma eruptions, or superheated geysers erupting from the earth.
But, it’s a topic that seem to cause some confusion. Speaking of “buts…”
I don’t know what all the fuss is about. I can heat a room up, clear it out, and watch whatever I want on the TV, until the smoke clears… All I need is a big ole’ batch of my world famous “Three Alarm and a bottle of Pepto - Kosher Chicken Livers, Oysters, and Peanut Butter Chili…“
Don’t ask for the recipe… It’s a secret! Oy Freakin Vey! Somebody open a door, huh?
And yes, as a matter of fact… I always blame it on the dog…
Few people realize that natural heat energy created by the Earth’s core has enormous potential to be tapped for human consumption. More importantly, this form of energy is environmentally friendly (way friendlier than the neighbors!) and can be generated in your own backyard.
Whether the neighbors like it or not, I might add!
And, you don’t need to watch any corny Brendon Fraser movies to figure out how to do it, either!
You don’t have to take a journey to the center of the Earth to get this energy!
There is a rule that remains the same, no matter where you go…
Okay, almost anywhere you go… Stop splitting hairs, huh? This is hard enough already! Sheesh!
The rule is: At about 30 feet into the Earths surface the temperature stays relatively constant.
But how do you get the “constant temperature” from there, to where you need it?
You use a Geothermal Heat pump. Picture your Mother-In-Law sucking down Mint Julep’s thru a straw until the cows come home! That’s how a Geothermal Heat pump works!
Geothermal heat pumps work by carrying heat from one place to another.
In warm locations such as islands, heat pumps can transfer heat from the home down into the ground thus cooling the environment much like a refrigerator does.
In cold locations such as northern places where crazy architects like Paul Stankey play, for instance… heat pumps can transfer heat from the ground into a building. Thus through this simple system you can produce “ambient air that warms or cools your home depending on the location.”
And we’re not just painting pretty pictures here! If you stay tuned, I’ll describe all the steps you’ll take, when designing and building your own geothermal home. Steps like fighting your way through the pre-design and design processes, muddling through the technologies used and even achieving the “expected” results.
Next time,. we’re gonna talk about water.
That’s right.
WATER.
Geothermal and water go together like Cake and Ice Cream! And Gawd knows, I’m an expert at eating Cake and Ice Cream!
Stay tuned!
FYI: I do NOT work for Paul Stankey! So, stop asking! Even though he’s a “house smart” guy, and I love his work… I’d never work for a guy who wasn’t smart enough not to live in a place that gets debilitatingly cold! Nuh-uh! He’s crazier than a bag fulla mad cats!
As most of you know, I’m the guy building homes out of shipping containers. And, it seems that I’m not alone. Over the last several months, we’ve garnered a following of about 68,000 plus people, most of whom are looking to build a home of their own, without having to sell their souls to those blue-suited devils at the bank.
Building a home is an ambitious project, no matter what you use to construct it with. But, in the case of “Corten Castles,” it’s a place of mystery, and almost never-ending questions;
“Ain’t it hot in there?”
“Why’dya put yer kin in that there coffin box? Ya know, in a few years, we all end up that way… Why rush it?”
“Don’tya have no sense? Them’s fer packing stuff in!”
and it goes on and on…
As you can see, I live in the deepest, darkest South, “where change is BAD!”…
People just can’t seem to get their heads around using a steel box for anything but cargo. But these Corten Constructs are more… much more!
I’ve been beating you to death with my exploits, so as Char slowly recuperates from yet another hospital adventure… I’m gonna take a day off, and show you what some other people did, when they decided that Corten Steel was good enough to live in…
People say they don’t work. People say they won’t last. People say that it’s impossible…Yada, yada, yada…
Enter Esperanza…
Washington’s Migrant Housing Task Force was hard at work in the town of Mattawa on the Columbia River Valley.
I’ve been there… It’s in a BEAUTIFUL place that looked like G_d kissed it on the mouth!
Mattawa is a small rural community that had been about 2,000 people. Orchards that were established there during the apple crop booms of the 1980s, however, were finally coming into production in 1998 and migrant workers were flooding the town. The town’s population increased eightfold almost overnight and this growth so overburdened its services and infrastructure that it was declared to be in an official state of emergency by the Washington State government. Mattawa needed, among many other things, new schools, a new sewage treatment plant, and most immediately, a temporary housing community for these workers.
Like many others (myself included) Washington’s Governor Locke had seen shipping containers used as temporary emergency housing during his visit to China and Japan, and was intrigued enough to put the idea forward as one of the project parameters.
Imagine that! A Governor who actually saw the light, and then did something about it… I only wish that Mississippi was blessed with someone in power, with vision that clear.
A Yakima manufacturer who had experimented with the idea of shipping container housing partnered up with Grant County, a leader in affordable housing in Eastern Washington.
The need to house at least 300 migrant workers changed the traditional means of involvement to a research and consultancy agenda, which emphasized faculty expertise and student research projects on each of the phases. The focus of the consulting and research was on manufacturing processes and details, as well as the economy’s production, site deployment, and infrastructure (the area of most concern to the clients given Mattawa’s already limited capacity).
David Riley, an architectural engineering professor in the University of Washington CAUP Construction Management Department, joined the team. His own dissertation and research interests had been in lean production processes and the economies of construction sites.
In collaboration with Riley, a design for an efficient infrastructure layout for agricultural production in the region was struck, that would account for the basic needs and the social patterns of the labor force, which is primarily made up of migrant workers from Mexico.
Riley and others collected social pattern information in a “student powered research project.” The students fanned out among the camps along the Columbia River to interview workers about their living patterns, needs, short- and long-term goals, and resources.
This research turned out to be part of the most important contributions to the project. Much of Washington State’s earlier project programming turned out to be based on information that did not apply to the specific community the project was trying to serve. See? if the research is there… you actually get something that you can use! Are you paying attention, Jackson? Hmmm?
As a result of this research, they discovered that that smaller groupings of containers—four as opposed to the service hubs of six or eight originally proposed by the county—were more desirable for the variety of social spaces they could establish on the site. To meet the State’s and Grant County’s desired density, they came up with a staggered pattern for the smaller hubs which proved to be more space efficient than the larger hubs, yet generated a richer social pattern of use.
They also discovered that car ownership among the migrants was much lower than originally assumed; smaller parking lots increased the common space available for social activities.
And, more importantly… families are living in safety and comfort, harbored in the arms of our Corten friends…
Okay, so they didn’t assemble ISBU’s like Lego’s, into McMansions… But…
In my opinion, they did even better…
And, this isn’t a ground-breaking project, folks. They did it YEARS ago… in 1998!
This is what I think ISBU’s are truly destined for. Mass housing, using recycled boxes, that protect and sustain… AFFORDABLY!
This is a “BIG Thumbs Up!” Project, if ever I’ve seen one. Add Solar Panels and Photovoltaics to this and you’ve got something very cool, indeed…
Next time, we continue to look long and hard… using Mother Earth to cool our Corten castles… Geothermal HVAC…
First, I beg your forgiveness over my absence for the last several days…
My days of late have been rather hectic. Chemo and Radiation are cruel mistresses, and my wife Char isn’t bearing up too well. In fact, we spent the last few days in the ICU at our local hospital, working our way through an “Oh My Gawd” moment that seemed to last forever.
But, on the positive side, she’s been far less grumpy, and really quiet since the sedatives finally kicked in… Man, they should bottle that stuff for home use… Maybe even in an aerosol can!
“What’s that? Gawd, woman… why are you griping at me, again? Pssssssssssst! There, that’ll fix ya… Now stop drooling all over yourself, you look like a demented primate…”
(I know, I know… direct your “hate mail” to “renaissanceronin@gmail.com”)
I spent countless hours, trying to keep Joshua occupied (Man, do I wish this kid had a Grandma…) and thinking about decisions that I’ve made, trying to get us into a real home, one where we’ll be safe from whatever tries to come thru the door, or the roof.
You see, I’m that nut trying to build his family a home out of shipping containers, aircraft hangar parts I recycled, and a few photovoltaic panels, to keep the utility guy outta my yard.
After Joshua finally fell asleep (no thanks to those geriatric candy-stripers who kept trying to feed him sugar loaded cookies and orange juice!) , I was reading an architectural magazine, and a guy in the patients lounge saw it.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I know those nice ladies are just there to try and make your bad time a bit better, but the last thing I needed was my kid running at full bore, hopped up on sugar and chocolate chips. Talk about an Energizer Bunny on Acid! Oy freakin Vey!)
(Have you ever noticed that when you’re sitting, minding your own business, trying to relax with a magazine or a book, everybody in G_d’s Creation will try to engage you in a conversation? Hmmm?)
Anyway, while I sat there trying to read my magazine, I ended up having a conversation with a guy who was telling me all about “affordable housing.” He went on and on about the houses that his company is building, and then whipped out a brochure (that he “just happened to have) to show me his “prizes to houseless humanity.”
Now, I didn’t mention that I was “something of an expert” in the field. In fact, I mentioned very little. He wouldn’t let me get a word in edgewise…
I may be a pig, but I’m a smart pig. I read the covers of magazines (especially if they have girls, or Hot Rods, or better yet… girls on hot rods… on the cover), I can read the jacket liner notes on good books, and I can even crayon with the best of them. Hell, I can even carry on a conversation, as long as you don’t try to slip in any polysyllabic words.
But this guy… every third phrase was “affordable housing.” And, he kept using them like he actually understood them. But after I listened to him go what seemed like the entire hurricane season, I realized that he had absolutely no clue. It was one of those conversations that should have gone like this;
“Man, the hamburgers in the hospital cafeteria are really affordable. Why don’t I go grab a few, and we can keep talking about housing.”
But, the reality of the conversation was more like;
“Let’s grab a burger and talk about affordable housing.”
And then it went south faster than Yankees carrying carpetbags to Memphis at the end of the “War Between the States.”
Affordable Housing is a topic that’s being beat to death in every building rag on the planet. Everywhere you look on th Internet, there are loads of “hip modern housing designs” that just beg to be built.
(It’s funny that the renderings never include “normal average everyday, drive my butt to work and then crawl home” kinda people. They always depict “elegant people” who look like they belong in an expensive liquor ad.)
Now, I LOVE looking at these renderings, because they usually make me laugh. Like many other people, I’m drawn to these images, because I’m trying to claw my way thru the mystery, to arrive at that magical land, where everybody gets to grow up in a home of their
own. I’m interested as hell, because one of these days, I want to abandon the crappy rental walls that my family has been forced to live in (after a hurricane ate our house), and live in a modern, safe, durable home that I can afford.
You see… I can’t afford what some people call “affordable housing.”
Why am I hacked off, and even jaded? Well, it’s because the guys building these “affordable houses” are as shifty as the San Andreas fault line. The photos are cool, and the renderings do make you wonder;
“What if?”
“What if?” is the wrong question to be asking yourself. The real question is : “HOW?”
One you stop looking at the snazzy renderings, you have to read the fine print. And most of time you’ll find out that it’s filled with misinformation, and inconsistent conclusions.
Usually, these ads and blog posts are written by marketing ilk. You know the type. Slicked back hair, big snazzy car, lot’s of bling. They’ll dazzle you with BS, while they try to determine the best way to “close you,” and get their commission. Because so many of us are desperately seeking out that Holiest of Grails—a really cool house that their family can actually afford to buy—we want to believe (Gawd, we want to believe!), and we find ourselves overlooking anything that might get in the way… like facts. And if you look for them, you’ll see them. You know the ones… facts that usually disprove the claims of housing affordability.
Before you buy into any of these “Merry skips down La-la lane…” you have to put on your Sherlock Holmes hat, and look for the REAL truth. That really hot house you just read about was probably built with donated products, so that the manufacturers can get “free publicity.” The builder may have used students and retirees as volunteer labor to build it, too!
Ever gone to one of those trade shows that tout “Housing Opportunities?”
You pay your ten bucks, and you expect to see the home of your dreams. You know the one…
It’s that one that you’ve got taped to the fridge, after you saw it on the Internet. And when you fight thru the crowd (because they’re all there for the same reason, and seemingly, the same house) to inspect the property, you’re gonna find out that the camera is NOT your friend. Camera angles can make a small house look much larger than it actually is.
And what’s this? The foundation isn’t included in the deal. And, it’s a tricky foundation, that will cost you your kids college fund. Hey! Nobody mentioned that in the blog post…
Those @$#%&!!
Nothing is free, folks. I’ve been saying it for a while, if you’ve been reading the blog posts. In order to build, you have to spend.
“But I saw it on the Internet!” isn’t an argument that will fly, when you get right down to the dollars and cents of your new home, especially if you’re trying to build affordable housing.
You’ve gotta stick to the facts; a clear understanding of all of the variables involved (the size in square footage, the quality of the components that you’ll use, the erection method (do not insert “Viagra” joke here), the operational expenses, blah, blah, blah…
Now, that’s a discussion that you don’t wanna have with the In-Laws, brought on because your “significant other” suspects that you’re crazy. THAT discussion has the potential to not only mislead anybody interested in the concept of affordable housing, it’ll also fill their tiny little brains with rebuttals to the marketing hype. You know… the inaccurate” non-facts.” You need to have a meaningful discussion of affordable housing that will steer the naysayers away from their uptight, “Why don’t you just go buy a regular house like everyone else, you worthless bastard…” glory.
It’s a grueling conversation best served up with a full goblet of your best wine, or if it’s with your In-Laws… a cheap bottle of swill, like Ripple, or maybe even “Boone’s Farm.”
And, if you stick to the facts, at the end, they’ll get a good headache from all the phosphates in the crap you served them to drink, you’ll have avoided the minefield that is the “affordable housing stories in the mags,” and it will be far less disappointing, than that horrible “standing in the parking lot, disillusioned” feeling you got, when you finally saw thru the hype, at the “Home and Garden Show.”
I’m gonna spend the next several days, (Char’s illness permitting) finishing off my post series on Geothermal Heating and Cooling.
And then… I’m gonna help you figure out what’s real, and what’s not.
Affordable housing ain’t “a million dollar modular” dropped on your lot, without any landscaping.
But if you stay tuned, I’ll show you what Affordable Housing “IS.”
Man, this building a home out of 40′ ISBUs (shipping containers) is getting harder and harder!
I crawled out of my cave today, and looked at the sky. For several days in a row, we’ve been plagued by lighting, thunder, and downpours that last just long enough to turn the place into a sauna, and make you want to crawl into your bed and pull the covers up over your head.
The power’s gone out several times, the cable is looking like those scrambled images you looked at, as a kid, fighting eyestrain while you stared into the tube trying to see anything that looked like “nakedness” (remember scrambled porn channels? Admit it! I’m not the only one who did that! Am I? Um… er… oh, never mind!), and the big oak tree in the church parking lot lot next door got a kiss from Gawd’s fireworks, and it’s now looking like some kind of demented twisted twin Oak mutation.
Incredible. Speaking of stuff that ends with “credible”…
In order to host a “credible blog,” I’ve become aware that you have to actually possess credibility.
Whaaaaa?
So, in keeping with the theme of the day (Credibility… aren’t you paying attention? Sheesh!) I thought I’d list my title so that you can see how credible I is…
I’m currently deployed, um…er… employed, in a job that pays exactly what I’m worth.
I got me a title, I do…
I’m the “Involuntary Second Assistant to the Assistant Manager, in charge of the department of certain things that nobody else gives a great big “Gawd Dang It!” about…”
Remember that Paypal donation button way over there to the right? PULLLLELASE! We’re starving!
And, I’ll have you know that I didn’t “volunteer” for the job! Only suckers volunteer for anything! The last time I did that, I got married to a crazy Indian bent on scalping Jews…
Oy Freakin Vey! I miss my hair…
So, obviously… one of the things I’m in charge of… is spouting off about hot air. After all, I got me a title, so that makes me an expert, right?
Last time we talked (um…er… chatted… um… okay, you CAN read, right?)…
We were talking about living in a steel box, and ways to control the temperature. And, I was going on and on about how I’m using Geothermal HVAC to heat and cool the “hot box” we’re building.
Geothermal Energy is simply heat or coolant (thermal) derived from the earth (geo). It is the thermal energy contained in the rock and fluid (that fills the fractures and pores within the rock) in the earth’s crust.
Guys like Burkland (a noted scientist from the 70′s) have been doing calculations that demonstrate that the earth, originating from a completely molten state, would have cooled and become completely solid many thousands of years ago without an energy input in addition to that of the sun. It is believed that the ultimate source of geothermal energy is radioactive decay occurring deep within the earth.
Wait a sec’, and let me grab my “professor hat…”
Time for the Science lesson; Run for your lives!
Some wise guy, paid to know better, with a bunch of alphabet soup after his name, said: “In most areas of the earth, this geothermal heat reaches the surface in a very diffused state. However, due to a variety of geological processes, some areas, including substantial portions of many western states in the United States are underlain by relatively shallow geothermal resources.”
Who said it? Hell, I don’t know, I fell asleep after “In most areas of…”!! Your guess is as good as mine!
But, it’s true. For example, I used to live in the Pacific Northwest, on 15 glorious acres by a serene little river that sat in the middle of nowhere. All around us, there were Geothermal Hot Springs, and we exploited them to bathe in, provide heat and hot water for our houses, and we even built a cooker/poacher using them.
Why did I ever leave? Um… not many girls… When you’re a dork like moi, you need a much larger pond to fish in…
Anyway, most of these resources can be classified as low temperature (less than 90°C or 194°F), moderate temperature (90°C – 150°C or 194 – 302°F), and high temperature (greater than 150°C or 302°F). Why classify them at all? Well, the uses to which these resources are applied are also influenced by temperature.
The highest temperature resources are generally used only for electric power generation. Current U.S. geothermal electric power generation totals approximately 2200 MW or about the same as four large nuclear power plants.
Uses for low and moderate temperature resources can be divided into two categories: direct use and ground-source heat pumps.
Direct use, as the name implies, involves using the heat in the water directly (without a heat pump or power plant) for such things as heating of buildings, industrial processes, greenhouses, aquaculture (growing of fish) and resorts.
That’s what WE did. And, there were no moving parts! No maintenance, and lots of time to fish and garden… Yippee… But, not many girls… Argh! Noticing a trend yet?
Direct use projects generally use resource temperatures between 38°C (100°F) to 149°C (300°F). According to statistics, current U.S. installed capacity of direct use systems totals 470 MW or enough to heat 40,000 average-sized houses.
Ground-source heat pumps use the earth or groundwater as a heat source in winter and a heat sink in summer. Using resource temperatures of 4°C (40°F) to 38°C (100°F), the heat pump, a device which moves heat from one place to another, transfers heat from the soil to the house in winter and from the house to the soil in summer. Accurate data isn’t readily available on the current number of these systems; however, the rate of installation is thought to be between 10,000 and 40,000 per year. And that number is growing fast.
End of Science Lesson.
See, it didn’t hurt, much.
(Now… I took a couple of Advil’s while I typed it, but for you… just some minor eyestrain, so stop your complaining! Man, what a bunch of whiners!)
When you mention Geothermal anything, the very first thing that people ask, is:
“How in the heck can you afford it?”
I suspect that they envision something that resembles “A Journey to the Center of the Earth,” with Brendan Fraser solving all your problems heroically, using “Hollywood tricks.”
(Frankly, I preferred the original version, but I’m not exactly a Spring Chicken. Actually, to be truthful, the heroine was much more attractive.)
Here’s some facts to dispel the myths, and help you convince your significant other that you haven’t lost your mind…. again!
How much can you save in energy costs with a geothermal system?
HVAC
SYSTEM
Atlanta
GA
Phoenix
AZ
Burlington
VT
New York
NY
Standard Geoexchange System
$583
$797
$1,179
$1,062
Standard Air Source Heat Pump
$826
$1,109
$2,059
$1,541
Standard Gas Furnace / Electric Air Conditioning
$686
$860
$1,377
$1,138
Electric Resistance / Std Air Conditioning
$1,196
$1,317
$2,945
$2,352
Who (besides ME) Says Geothermal Energy is the Best Choice?
Geothermal energy has already been recognized as the single most efficient and greenest heating/cooling method by people who are paid to know, in places like government and private sectors.
Now, I know that you’re suspicious of anything that comes from “Obamanation,” that tells you it’s the best way… but… Get used to it. It’s the same as when the intel came from Bushland, or the Clinton Conspiracy, or even the Nixon Nightmare… Just do your homework, and then decide for yourself.:)
Here’s what the U.S. Department of Energy says about Geothermal…
And if you want more stuff to talk about over the dinner table, instead of a heated discussion about your Mother-In-Law coming to visit for a “weekend” that actually lasts a week… again…;
You can talk about the EPA’s State and Local Climate Change program (PDF):
This handy-dandy info source is focused on helping you to take advantage of the high energy efficiency and low environmental impact of geothermal systems.
And there are many, many Consumer, industry, and scientific organizations jumping on the bandwagon;
The California-based Consumer Energy Center praises versatile geothermal energy.
I’d think any information based body from California would be falling on it’s own swords right about now, as Arnold tries to “Terminate” the naysayers to his “bailout budget” but try this link (if California can still afford bandwidth!)…
And if all this information hasn’t got your head spinning, then you can find out what the Union of Concerned Scientists has to say. Even major energy producers (power plants) recognize geothermal energy advantages as a renewable source of power.
Okay, so you’ll spend the next several hours reading up on Geothermal Science.
You will right? After all, remember, I trap your IP addresses. If you don’t… well, let’s just say that there’s a smoking pile of dog poop on your front porch, in your near future…
After doing your homework, and waving a fistful of data sheets in the air as you debate Geothermal with your “spouse…” You know what’s gonna happen, right?
They’ll just look at you, with a blank stare, and say; “So what? What do other people who actually USE Geothermal say?”
And you can scream; “AH- HA! Here’s the answer right here!” as you fling printouts up in the air gleefully!
(Hey, works for ME!)
It appears that over 90% of people and corporations using geothermal systems would recommend installing one in your home. That’s reflected in a number of online users’ and owners’ forums, including GeoExchange, which you can find…
It’s a great place to find no-nonsense answers and information about Geothermal, from people actually using it.
But I’m guessing that you think installing a Geothermal system is like building a Nuclear Powerplant, right? Nope. Here’s a look at how one of them did it;
Next time, (now that you’re armed with enough facts to completely cloud the issue) we’ll tackle the specifics of Geothermal, and start laying out a “real” system.
For the record, let me make this perfectly clear...
Blogs are about opinions. And some of us, myself included, have strong ones.
Some of us, myself included, can't be counted on to be "politically correct" all the time. So be advised that I call 'em like I see 'em, and sometimes I use strong language to make a point...
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