Back when we were researching our “forever home”, we chose ICF construction for a number of reasons. It’s tough, energy efficient and should last a lifetime with minimal upkeep. In this post, I’ll discuss: what ICF construction is how it differs from conventional construction why we chose Insulated Concrete Forms how much energy is saved…
The “Building an Eco Home” series is a set of articles that were originally published in The Healthy Independent while we were in the process of building our current home. I have made only minor edits to include links and format for the online publishing. I will be discussing green building and remodeling in more…
As some of you know, in our home we use three different heating sources – passive solar, a masonry stove, and radiant in-floor heating warmed by a combination of active solar water heating and a propane boiler. I can’t give firm numbers, because we have very minimal monitoring set up, but I’d estimate that the…
We aren’t at the North Pole, but we get plenty of cold weather here in Northeast Wisconsin. We’re in USDA hardiness zone 4/5 and we have wind 9 days out of 10. (Our area is one of the windiest in the state.) Our home is built with the local climate in mind. We did a…
The “Building an Eco Home” series is a set of articles that were originally published in The Healthy Independent while we were in the process of building our current home. I have made only minor edits to include links and format for the online publishing. I will be discussing green building and remodeling in more…