[Greenbuilding] FLW 's "Solar " Home (was Re: Living Walls)

[Rob Tom]

On Wed, 01 Nov 2006 08:05:26 -0500, Shawna Henderson  
<shawna at abridesign.com> wrote:

>  ... FLW's work, but I know that he designed at least one terrific solar  
> home.

> a semi-circular house set into the ground

> Anyone have more to say about FLW's work and sustainability?


Hay SH;

The FLW house to which you refer is of course the "Solar Hemicycle" or  
"Jacobs II" house to be more precise.

As with most of FLW's work, it is a brilliantly-conceived, beautiful  
design, but unfortunately, comes up a bit short on basic good building  
practise details.

As to the sustainability of FLW's work and the Jacobs II house in  
particular, one would have to give them a "thumbs down".

Most of FLW's buildings have had to undergo $multi-$million restorations  
due to the bad detailing (mostly having to do with not giving water its  
due respect) and are for the most part, energy sieves.  The latter may be  
excused because they were built in a day when energy-efficiency wasn't  
part of the lexicon.

Last I read (long ago ...1980's ?) it cost about $3500 per heating season  
to keep the Jacobs II house warm. (Floor area of ~2500 sf. That would  
likely be in excess of $5k in 2006 $$ ... a tad high, eh what ?

With some insulation, air-sealing and incorporation of flashing details  
that work, the hemicycle design would be a wonderful design to mimic in  
Greener 2006.
But the $20,000 (1948 price) house would likely cost upwards of $1.5M in  
2006 if built by a contractor. Replace the finished-both-faces,  
three-foot-thick limestone walls with some less- skilled-labour-intensive  
option and the cost would be significantly more 2k6wallet-friendly.



===* ===
Rob Tom
Kanata, Ontario, Canada
<archilogic at chaffyahoo dot ca>
winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply