Overview

This site documents in (almost) real time the planning and construction of my straw bale house. The location is in Santa Cruz County, an area well-know for its difficult and expensive planning bureaucracy.

Although there is a lot of official lip service to green construction, reality looks quite different. One example is gray water: because gray water systems are barely becoming legal in Santa Cruz County, the current requirements still call for a full-size septic system, although I would rather install a composting toilet system together with a gray water system to re-use bath, shower, and kitchen water for landscaping. This would eliminate the need for any conventional water treatment system. Another example is heating: I am designing an energy efficient house with plenty of passive solar features and backup wood heat. Nevertheless, I am required to install a full conventional heating system, in my case a hydronic system with wall radiators.

In short, if one wants to install green features, one needs to build these in addition to the conventional building features, i.e. there is no financial or regulatory incentive to go green.

Partly under construction - excuse the dust!