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My husband and I go back and forth on this one--so which one do you feel would be greener:
We would love to build an off-grid strawbale house in the country, with a large garden, composting toilet, passive solar design, solar panels, woodstove for all heat, gray-water system, etc. However, that would mean developing more land, using the car more, using more new resources (pipes, electrical, fixtures, windows, etc.), even if we did get some salvaged.
On the otherhand, it seems like it would be more environmental to purchase an existing home in town, where we could walk and bike everywhere, and then "green" it by adding solar, woodstove, composting toilet, better insulation, etc., and then be creative with the gardening (container gardening, putting vegetables in the flower border areas).
Then I had the great idea of building a strawbale on a city lot...but that might be hard to find, depending on the town we eventually settle in, as well potentially more hurtles to leap, and less likelihood of being able to live on the lot (via a yurt or camper) while building.
Well, provided that there's a solid shell to renovate, working with an existing home intown will most likely minimize both the resources you use in getting your dream home, and the resources you use on a daily basis. As you've already figured out, living out in the sticks can be a real resource-hog unless you're able to sustain yourselves on very few trips off the homestead.
Yes, that is the problem. We wouldn't live way out of town--within 5-10 miles, but even if you live two miles from the town limits, you are still going to drive a lot more often. We have two young boys, so I imagine we will spend a lot of time going back and forth to school and activities through the years. On the otherhand, the last person in my family to live in town (directly: children, parents, grandparents, etc., not cousins) was hmm... well both my grandmothers I guess did growing up, but it goes much further back on the grandfathers side. So there is a whole traditional thing for me in living in the country.
I can tell you from experience, building a new home would actually be cheaper than renovating an existing home to get "green" Old homes well... they have more holes in them than a screen door when it comes to air infiltration and it is just expensive as heck to find and seal them off to make the old home tight. the existing roof would have to be checked out and passably upgraded to allow for the extra weight of the solar system, and so forth.
the other thing you may have to look at, are city codes when it comes to building straw bale in an infill lot, some cities just wont allow it. As well as other various code issues that may pop up (composting toilet)
This may be more of a job for a Designer or Architect to look at the possibilities in your area.
On the otherhand, it seems like it would be more environmental to purchase an existing home in town, where we could walk and bike everywhere, and then "green" it by adding solar, woodstove, composting toilet, better insulation, etc., and then be creative with the gardening (container gardening, putting vegetables in the flower border areas).
Just from an impact standpoint, reusing an existing structure is going to have the least environmental impact.
All of the energy that was once used to build that existing home would be wasted if, say, you tore that home down to build a new one in it's place, or if that home fell into such disrepair that it was unsafe to live in and was eventually torn down.
But by taking an older structure and making green choices with every update you do, you impact the environment the least. I'm going this route myself right now with an old 1940's home, it's just slooooow going .
Just from an impact standpoint, reusing an existing structure is going to have the least environmental impact.
All of the energy that was once used to build that existing home would be wasted if, say, you tore that home down to build a new one in it's place, or if that home fell into such disrepair that it was unsafe to live in and was eventually torn down.
But by taking an older structure and making green choices with every update you do, you impact the environment the least. I'm going this route myself right now with an old 1940's home, it's just slooooow going .
I completely agree with this statement. Yes, it is a little more expensive, but on the other hand, you don't have to do everything all at once. Also, many cities have grants available to homeowners to fix up their houses. These grants are not for greening homes specifically, but rather are designed to keep people in the cities and to keep houses in good shape.
I would love to have a little strawbale house out in the country too, but I don't want to have to rely on my car to get everywhere everyday. So we are trying to live as green as we can in Chicago.
I'm a big proponent of living in town. Being able to walk or bike to work, school, shopping, recreation, doctors, social events...
The need to jump in a car for everything just "doesn't" ring green to me.
I also feel that intelligent renovation of older structures helps preserve our history.
Maintaining the development footprint helps keep the ecological balance, sustaining wildlife habitat.
I would have to agree with some of the other posters and say that I would go the route of an existing house. My husband and I have spent the last 4 years renovating our home, and its worth it in the end! I have always believed that it is such a waste of land and trees to build new homes when there are so many older homes that could be fixed up and have such great character. We are currently looking into wind and solar power options for our home and hope to be able to take the next step to being green!
Thanks everyone for weighing in. We have been thinking in the same lines, but we recently became friends with some people who built a strawbale and fell in love all over again. But buying an exsisting house makes economical sense for us, as well. We live pretty simply, so I think we could swing making upgrades over a few years, even if they are expensive. However, I don't think we would be able to afford rent and a mortgage while a house is built.
We have also thought, depending on where we settle, that we could live in town, but buy a small piece of land outside the town, where we could have hiking trails and a small camp area with a lean-to or even a small yurt. The idea being that we could make it super easy to get in the woods whenever we could.
Thanks everyone for weighing in. We have been thinking in the same lines, but we recently became friends with some people who built a strawbale and fell in love all over again. But buying an exsisting house makes economical sense for us, as well. We live pretty simply, so I think we could swing making upgrades over a few years, even if they are expensive. However, I don't think we would be able to afford rent and a mortgage while a house is built.
We have also thought, depending on where we settle, that we could live in town, but buy a small piece of land outside the town, where we could have hiking trails and a small camp area with a lean-to or even a small yurt. The idea being that we could make it super easy to get in the woods whenever we could.
It is possible to retrofit a conventional home with straw bales. Or buy something MUCH smaller than you need and build a strawbale addition...
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