Straw-bale home
Check out this straw-bale house in Ashfield, MA owned by author/dairy farmer Paul Lacinski.
Two things I'd like to point out. The roof looks green and stuff because it's a 'living roof'. The owners/builders laid down a rubber pond liner on the complete roof (minus shingles/metal sheeting/slate/what have you) then covered it with topsoil. Instead of planting something up there, they let whatever fell grow unless it was a tree. You can imagine that would be a bad scene in a couple years.
Also, there is a man on the roof of the house. When we first arrived on our NOFA Sustainability Tour, we walked around the house and found a short ladder propped up against the house and pieces of slate that looked like steps on the roof itself. I asked one of the owners if that was for servicing the roof or skylight but apparently they just like to go up there and sit. Cool eh?
Two things I'd like to point out. The roof looks green and stuff because it's a 'living roof'. The owners/builders laid down a rubber pond liner on the complete roof (minus shingles/metal sheeting/slate/what have you) then covered it with topsoil. Instead of planting something up there, they let whatever fell grow unless it was a tree. You can imagine that would be a bad scene in a couple years.
Also, there is a man on the roof of the house. When we first arrived on our NOFA Sustainability Tour, we walked around the house and found a short ladder propped up against the house and pieces of slate that looked like steps on the roof itself. I asked one of the owners if that was for servicing the roof or skylight but apparently they just like to go up there and sit. Cool eh?
posted by Charlie at
7:49 AM
1 Comments:
That's nice. Bill McDunough and his group advocate living roofs. When he revamped the ford plant in Michigan he threw a lot of that on. Good Read: Cradle to Cradle talks about some of those issues. Also a good idea if you happen to be in an urban area and have access/permission to your roof. Some dude in brooklyn did that w/ his appartment building it turned out pretty nice (it's in Home Power magazine number 104).
I think the living roofs are supposed to reduce the heating load due to sunlight. Makes sense: black ashfault = radiates plant matter = photosynthesizes. Probably increases the insulation value too.
My only concern would be with the weight load. If it's like a normal living system with plants dying and microrganisms building up organic matter, over time I wonder if the roof's weight would increase substantially.
By
Reed, at 5:40 AM
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