Wilmer Smith

I'm about to embark on an adobe brick project in my backyard in the greater Phoenix area and I've been researching this very topic. I've yet to reach any firm conclusions. I can't find much literature on adobe or rammed earth in these extreme highs, so I'm making it up. It's true that here, high mass may only get you a big oven. The HoHokam lived here in mud homes for hundreds of years, but their villages weren't surrounded by 100 square miles of concrete and asphalt, and it cooled off at night. Here, we sometimes hit the 115F mark (41C), and overnight lows in this huge metropolis won't dip below 90F (32C) at that time. Thermal mass will continue to radiate heat all night when the outside median temp is over 100F. My plan is to build a double wall and vent the area between to the outside. My vents will be in the wall (perhaps the roof too) and easily accessible so I can open the vents in summer and close in winter. Proper venting should create a draft between the walls and prevent heat from building up and radiating to the inside. At least it sounds good in theory. Plus, my south and west walls will be very well shaded. I don't want to insulate. I want the raw look of adobe block, but if it proves too hot then I will contemplate rigid polystyrene on the outside,followed by mud plaster. I will also use a swamp cooler --- low in power usage and very effective here because the humidity usually sits around 5 to 10 percent most the year, excepting the monsoon season, and a swamp cooler injects humidity inside, which is good in such a climate as this. If you use adobe, cob or rammed earth, you should be prepared to insulate the exterior should your situation require it. Also, some folks are using rigid insulation inside of cob or rammed earth walls, out of sight. Should you build in such heat, you should document the results and share, because there's not many talking about it. Most mud research and literature comes from people working in the New Mexico highlands and Colorado--- quite different from the extreme heat of the Sonoran Desert, the city, and like environments.

Jim Fry has a point. There are lots of once-homesteaded farms that lay fallow, including my Uncle's, whose kids went to the city 80 years ago. Mostly abandoned since 1976, the Missouri forest is now reclaiming it and it's good land near the Mississippi. There must be thousands of such properties. You could be re-homesteaders. Teri Morgan makes an inspirational case for going for it in Alaska and making dreams come true, but bear in mind that her husband was military near a base with access to a BX, commissary, healthcare of any kind, and reduced prices when shopping on base. If you don't have such support, your dream-making will be a lot harder. But nothing says you have to stay forever. You can go and build memories and experience in such a place but always have an option to leave. Good luck.