Kol Drake
I like some of the photos..
I’ve been looking at passive solar heating for homes…. and geo thermal heating and cool for a while now. (Since the 1970’s – Dome books & Shelter series in some cases)
I love the idea of a dome home.. but have also seen / read the many downsides to construction, inspection approval, and general.. square furniture in a round home issues. Still.. one day perhaps…. or at least a good Hobbit home in a hill.
As for geothermal… see http://www.reddawn.com/featart11-98.html
Pretty well covers the pluses and negatives to it at present. Though.. using the ground & ground water to cool and heat the home for nearly nothing is nice. And, you do get ‘free’ hot water for most of the year.
My pet peeve has always been….
We could already have lots more solar panels, wind turbines and similar systems…. if it was all geared toward ‘systems for the indivdual homes’. Larger upfront costs but low to no additional cost… except maybe monthly ‘rental’ for future repairs/upkeep.
Instead, it’s all about… how can we make this work like the power company monopoly — huge systems to generate neighborhood or city wide power… so we can tap into the grid and charge everyone a fortune like we already do. This.. it’s got to make a company mulit-billions is a crappy mindset……. especially when we are looking at sources of ‘clean’ power like sun and wind.
Stuff that has been ‘looked into’ and then had the research money taken / cut — is now being looked at again 30 years later… with the same =wishywashy attitude about really getting results to the people.