[Greenbuilding] Fwd: Re: The five hundred year house

[RONALD CASCIO]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Abrams" <alan at abramsdesignbuild.com>
To: <greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2007 2:57 PM
... I think with a compromise, at least for the present, using smart design 
and the best practices of fairly conventional methods and materials, and 
building for at least an eighty year time frame--quite doable, I think, with 
careful envelope
design/moisture control.

Alan Abrams



It is my contention that the buildings we ourselves are putting up, if 
loved well enough to be maintained and have major exterior components 
(roofing, siding, windows) replaced every 50-75 years can last many 
generations, perhaps a few centuries, and serve their occupants well over 
that time.


On a similar note...

A national builder doing business in our area, Centex, recently ran a radio 
advertisement touting their homes would last 30 years. Amazing that they are 
so clueless as to think that is something to brag about, and that they 
thought the public could be duped by such a claim. And to my amazement, they 
have been.

The ad did not run too many days before someone got wise.



Ron Cascio
Chestnut Creek
Design/Build/Consult/Develop
Maryland's Eastern Shore