Manuel Iglesias

Hi, how can I purchase the video? I live in Spain and it sais only in US.

Best regards.
Manu

John C Daley wrote:
- Have you researched 'passive building design'?

Is there a passive building design wich can be enclosed in an "external barn look"? ¿?

John C Daley wrote:Manuel, its a bit hard to answer because there are so many variables.
Some questions;
- Building it yourself
- build with steel kits
- build from stone etc
- build with other material
- Have you researched 'passive building design'?
- Floor material planned
- wall heights
- roof material
- Rainfall collection to use inside
- size
- time span to build structure

Thank you for your words.

I will hire the construction of the 4 walls and ceiling. After that, I will built the rest by myself (out of sight).
The materials are not yet chosen, but here many use cinder blocks.
My design is for getting an space out of sight (living homes are not allowed, so in the outside must seems a barn)
The max heights allowed are 6 meters total.
I'm thinking about 25x30 meters total
Time is not critical, as I live 20 minutes by car and can wait.
I don't understand the rainfall question.

Best regards
PD: Forgive my poor english

Hello, I'm starting a project involving buying a piece of ground to build a "livable" barn.
Te idea is to live in it and maybe make a living, following the code, that's the reason of a "barn". It is agricultural land, so only those are allow.
40 km south of Madrid, continental climate, hot summers and cold winters, flat land with irrigating water from a close river, during summer.

Attached some pics of actual traditional barns still in use.

Mi idea is to build a big barn (just the 4 walls and the ceiling) and then start working inside, but out of sight.

Attached are two options of what I am thinking, the fisrt one is something like 3 simple barns together making just one space. The right in the pic (south) as "dirt" zone (garage, workshop, animals, storage...). The center one as an interior "patio" (garden, fountain, with part of the ceiling translucent). The left one in the pic (north) as "clean" zone (living, kitchen, bedrooms, bath).

The last sketch is the same idea but with only one ceiling angle.

Actually I am still drawing sketches just to get most solar in winter, least solar in summer, low expenses, right use of space and resources and so on.

Ideas appreciated
Thank you very much and best regards
Manu

PD: I knwo this is not very "solar passive" but didn't find the right subforum

paul wheaton wrote:I got an email that says:
It will definitely be more expensive.  

We could just ship stuff from here, but that will probably add about $60 to the cost of shipping.  Ug.   On the other hand, for six books that are unsigned, it is possible that we could set up with a "print one book at a time" service in europe, and my quickie math says that that would add about $35 to the cost.  So still kinda nuts - but less nuts.

Hi, I'm the one who sent you the email.
Maybe there is an option to buy the books in a printer friendly format, so I can print with time in my printer.
I prefer paper books (sorry) and perhaps that would be an option.

Best regards
Manu

Jay C. White Cloud wrote:
I would even suggest that the larger forms of Horreos could more than accommodate a young family, and if several were built in a series as a connected compound would not only render a very functional form in living space,...

I think that idea is because you are not living here, IMHO there is no point in build an horreo outside Galicia or Asturias, and even less one bigger than the 99% of them, but that's only my opinion.

Hmmm......unless more than one person was driving the tractor...I do believe this was still a "one man job." Since I do such tasks as a part of my living, I would respectfully suggest this is more about "ability" and "confidence" than...not being able to do it. In job is going to require tools. A tractor is but a tool. I would also recommend that with these old stone versions (like the wood ones as well) it is much better to "dismantle them," clean them, restore damaged portions and reassemble them than it is to risk moving them in their entirety. Again...a one man job. I (et al) have move huge structures all by my self...so I know it can be done, as those that taught me did it...

Well, here I sould have given more information. I don't have a tractor, and as writen in the first post, I have very few money, so no big machines.
As for restore the old horreo, that's was the way we did, we didn't move it, did I suggest it? in that way, sorry for my poor english.
But that was not a one man job, as I would call it if you need a tractor.

I can't speak to your specific area and its rules, yet know several architects in Spain and know of many natural builders as well, so if share more specifics of location and the restrictions "you think there are," I might be able to be of more assistance.

I've put a google maps link in the previous posts, so that is the exact location.
Aranjuez, Madrid, Spain.
A natural arquitect with experience in this region would be most usefull to me, thanks in advance.

Regards,

Jay C. White Cloud wrote:

So perhaps the challenge isn't the method, yet rather your interest in the method or your confidence that these methods work. I can't really address or help with either of those concerns..., but will be glad to discuss details about them and their very long and well proven track record.

Let me know if I can answer specifics.
j

Ok, thank you very much for the interest.

By the way, Spain is not a uniform area in that way. There is 17 regions, with diferent laws, and even every village can alter some urban laws.
The "horreo" was used mostly in Galicia (from where I came) and Asturias. They do not allow (code approved) such a building here in Madrid, and as far as I've seen, the only "livable" are from Asturias, as they are square and allow some space, but of course not for a barn/house/whorkshop.

I don't aggree with its residential use, at least, I haven't seen them out of rural little room hotels (not real living families) and always only for aesthetics or keeping the traditional way, but impractical nor cheap as house, as they are design for aireation purposes (those are very wet climates, they store grain in them and must stay dry in very wet conditions).

When we rebuild my grandfather's (in Galicia), we used the tractor with the front loader to move the granite stones, some of 2 meters long and 30 cm wide. Not a one man job.

This is my grandma's one, smaller than the one we rebuild, but you get the idea:



If you mean build in stone (as the horreos in Galicia) it would be feasible (tough expensive) in the north of Madrid, where the mountains are granitic, and there are quarries, but here, there is no question ($$$) nor skill labor.

Of course, adobe is an option, but as you state before, I feel more comfortable with wood, and also there would be a nigthmare to get an arquitect to design it (mandatory) and to code approve it (they even demolish it if you don't) and I think more time consuming.

Local arquitects are not used to it (I don't know of a new adobe building since I was born) and so they overbuild everything "just in case".

Arround here, and I mean in this "code region" they only would consider traditional what I have sown before, and is made with solid bricks, even they call it "the traditional way", and what they consider the most logical method (and there is some truth in it, as it is the most spread and known, so help is easy to get) is concrete slabs, bricks, plaster, maybe steel pillars. Not very environmental friendly, nor cheap and not very "one-man job".

They consider me an "odd bug" trying to make strange things instead the way they sould

Best regards and thanks you for your invaluable time.
Manu

Jay C. White Cloud wrote:
Bottom line...humans have been building single family domestic and agricultural architecture in your region from natural materials for about 10,000 or more years. It was done with not complex machinery, tools, or electricity, and many of these structure still exists today...or at least the roads between them and their foundations. Pick one or two local historic vernacular styles and follow them as closely as you can. This will probably yield the most enduring structure you could possibly build. I will fill in the blanks about them where I am able...

Regards,

j

Thanks for the answers.

Well, I'm only trying to find the most suitable method for me, maybe it sounds selffish, but that's why I keep in searching, even if I think I've already found something good enough.

There is no standing building with 10000 years and the most traditional, and so easy to get license is something like I've sown before, here another example:



And I think it is harder for me to build, and those bricks are expensive.

Thank you for your time.

Regards
Manu

I'm sorry I didn't make myself understood properly.

I know poles will rot, concrete will speed up the procces and of course don't like poisonig the land.


So the ground part is bad.

My idea was that the way the upper section is built, is something that fits me.

That's why I mention it.

Regards.

Manu

What I mean is that I can do this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5zmuRUiFwo



Nearly all by miself, so are there others methods as "easy" for one man only?

Best regards
Manu