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Paper Thin Solar Power

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Nanosolar is coming out with their new product PowerSheet. This paper thin sheet is a solar panel in disguise. The panels are basically printed on a sheet of aluminum foil in a process that is much like printing a newspaper. The result is a product that can be rapidly produced at greatly reduced costs. The best part is that the product uses not silicon. Silicon is a very expensive material in short supply used on most photovaltic panels. Even worse, up to 70 percent gets wasted during manufacturing. So you’re paying for a lot of material waste that doesn’t help produce your electricity. Though Nanosolar hasn’t publicly released their product, we all have high hopes of a much less expensive solar alternative. To see more information, check out Popular Science’s article and make sure you click on the “See How It Works” button.

If you’re anxious to hear costs and advantages, go to their website. They don’t have anything up that specifially mentions the PowerSheet yet, but they explain the thin sheet technology. I signed up to their mailing list to hear about costs when it comes out. You can too, but I’ll do my best to post the costs here when it comes out.

I’d like to see a solar power system that’s like putting an apartment above the garage one day. I’d like to see one that produces so much excess electricity that your power company will be pay you enough to start a savings account on. Instead of saving money and the environment, preservation would become you own personal home business… wouldn’t that be nice.

A Polish Design

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I’m stealing from other bloggers here, but the house was simply too awesome not to comment on. It’s an Aatrail house. That means that it is the opposite of a traditional house with an atrium. In this house, you drive under one side and enter the house from the atrium. The rest of the house is open to the surrounding gardens. I would add pictures, but a link will have to do. They’re worth a look-see. Notice, when you follow the link below, the stone work of the driveway, the simple atrium, and the exterior terraces and swimming pool. This is simply an amazing house.

Considering the problems inherent on the lot, this architect did an amazing job at solving them in a fresh and creative way. On a side note, I’ve found an interesting new career opening up for designers and architects. It’s creative problem solving. Many businesses and manufacturers have found that hiring highly creative people trained in any creative field is a great way to “think out of the box” or to get a fresh perspective on things. I’m amazed at how talented some of these designers really are…

Staw Bale Construction

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Straw Bale homes have been a hot topic lately. Their R-value is outstanding, and they are quite earth friendly given the rapidly renewable resources they use: namely straw and clay. I checked it out (google straw bale houses or house plans) and was pleased to find plenty of sites willing to share the trade secrets on how to build your own straw bale house. (As always, I would advise anyone looking to construct their own house, no matter what method they use, to consult with professionals and their building inspector. If you have training, great, if not, be very careful.) One of the biggies that I think many would overlook on a straw bale house is the un-eveness of the walls and the cost of plastering them. One site said it would cost roughly $5 per sq. foot to plaster and be approximately 20% of the budget (Morrison – StrawBale.com).

Personally, I think the idea is fantastic. Especially in colder climates. The look is very easily rustic, the finish is very natural (no need for paint in most places = little to no VOCs), and the cost relatively low. A concern that I know has come up in the past is fireproofing. Many are worried that the bales, being a very dry grass, would burst into flames very easily. The truth is that straw bale homes are much more fire resistant. The best defense is the way the bales are sealed off. The walls are very tight and don’t allow much oxygen. The tight bale walls are then covered in over an inch of plaster. Ever tried to burn plaster? It really doesn’t burn. This is much better than a half inch of gyp board (sheetrock) and wooden 2X4’s surrounded by air. Altogether, there are plenty of pros to building a straw bale house.

Check out some interesting straw bale home plans at this site: http://www.balewatch.com/
Check out some great information on straw bale construction at this site: http://www.strawbale.com/

The Right Choice in a Wrong Situation

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Pardee Homes just made a really tough decision. Their Sacramento development has halted. Building crews have been let go and “deals made with only four buyers canceled” reports Jim Wasserman of The Sacramento Bee. The company has invested $200 million in the region and says it’s not shutting down for good. David Ragland, chief of Pardee’s Sacrament division, told Wasserman that “We plan to re-emerge and reopen in a year or a year and a half in a market with less competition.” I want to be the first to congratulate them on the right decision.

Layoffs and closures are never fun. Many people lose their jobs and the good that the company could have done for an area turns into nothing more than a vacant lot. However, Pardee Homes has, so far, stayed committed to the region with plans to develop when the market is healing itself. With a recently reported 8.5 months worth of new homes available for sale on the market, the last thing we need is for builders to keep going, even if they are making some kind of profit. The sooner we fix the over supply problem, the sooner the market can recover.

A large factor in the whole housing crisis has been shifty dealings in selling homes and subprime mortgages. Lenders and builders have put themselves in a desparate situation, and dishonesty is likely to occur when builders keep adding to the over supply and the pressure to sell. This is very bad for the market and will only bring harsh ramifications for the buyers and the sellers. So good job Pardee. You made a tough decision, but a good one.

On a hopeful note, the lending business is under stricter scrutiny and legislature is in the works to force a higher standard of ethics. The credit crisis (lenders inability to lend due to an inability to collect) will still see darker days before any improvements, but positive government influence could very well turn the tide. Now, if only we could get these big publicly owned building companies to slow down a bit more…

Creative Housing

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Looking for some cool new housing ideas? Want your home to stand out from the rest? Check out this article we came across yesterday. Featuring seven unique houses from a custom built home that is upside down, to a home shaped like a toilet. I can’t say i’d like to live in most of these, but… you have to give the architects and builders props for trying something completely off the wall.

http://www.mywiki.ws/Top_7_Weirdest_Houses

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