bluesimplicity Hatfield wrote:I'm gonna see Mike in a few days. I'm thinking it would be good to make a podcast with him. What would be some questions you all would like me to ask him?
So many questions....
It seems to me an earthship is a first thought design. If you collected the rainwater from the shed roof in a cistern for drinking water, would you eliminate the problem of drainage?
Earthships have an atrium/greenhouse across the front. What are your opinions about that? I noticed you had one planned for your ridge home in the book, but I didn't see it in the video.
I live in a humid climate. How would you deal with humidity in an underground house?
Thinking about building a earth sheltered home near a quarry. Since the local materials are stone, would it be problematic to use stone instead of wood for the walls? I didn't know if the stones would settle or shift with gravity. Would it be dangerous in an earthquake? Besides being local, I thought it would be a good passive solar material. Can you make an earth sheltered home passive solar? I didn't get the sense that Mike's homes incorporated passive solar.
How big can the uphill patio be realistically?
How deep does the earth need to be around the sides of the home to get the benefits of an earth sheltered home?
I too am very confused about the insulation. Rob Roy says insulate everything from below footings to walls to ceilings. John Hait says to insulate above the frost line and out 20 feet in all directions. Mike says not to insulate beyond the soil.