I'm planning on moving to Miami in about a year and I want to build a green home. I have been looking at strawbale homes and cob but I am not sure if it will work out in the huraciane prone area.
I would love to hear from some one that knows more about this kinda thing. Is there a better method for building in the area?
Lived in S. Florida for 12 years - still here, for the moment.
Cob should do fine in a hurricane, so long as the roof is well attached. There isn't the big day/night differential in temperature to take advantage of the thermal mass of cob, as in the dessert. But it appears kleiwerks is building with cob in Thailand & Laos, maybe Haiti, all which have wet tropical climates. http://www.kleiwerks.org/category/projects/thailand/
Building codes will probably be an issue. I also don't know if you could find a decent source of clay. It's mostly sand and coral down here...
I did hear of someone trying to build with cob in N. florida...a few searches should turn it up.
Strawbale makes a great insulator, which is what you would want, but with the amount of humidity and rain down here, as well as the high temps, that thing will turn into a mold trap sooner or later. If there is insufficient air circulation any structure will grow mold down here, and strawbale is just asking for it.
On the positive side, Florida is a permaculture paradise in terms of the sort of perennials you can grow. That will be one of the hardest things when I leave.
for five years I'd recommend a yurt or a travel trailer, no way in heck you're gonna be able to sell a green home when you leave so you might as well take it with you
I will be moving down to Miami to work with a small group of importers moving low impact green goods from South America. My hope is to be able to buy a place back home in the mid west in five years and still be trading out of Miami. My goal is to set up a working farm in MO. I don't want to try and sell the house in Fl. I want to be able to make a rather green home that will be able to keep my family and I comfortable while we are there.
Post by:autobot
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