"Twenty percent of the architecture on the World Heritage List today is constructed of earth"?

http://www.eartharchitecture.org/index.php?/categories/36-Mali
http://sociolingo.wordpress.com/category/culture/african-architecture/mud-buildings/

Should we completely move away from building in earth/ mud and take up cement instead. I don’t know how widespread the use of sustainable cement has become but can’t we explore more alternatives like building bigger and hig- accomodation buildings as an alternative to small huts?
Yes you do owe me a mail jay. Thanks y’all.

nope didn’t know that. i feel smarter now.

I live in a smaller two bedroom apartment, and the only source of heat is from a small gas furnace in the livingroom. We are having a baby in August and will be living here for the winter once they are born. Its really not very warm in other rooms in the apartment, such as the baby’s room.

What can I do to either make the apartment more energy efficient such as putting plastic on the windows? Which are single glass, and we do not own the place so we will not be replacing them.

Anything else?

Also if all else fails what is a safe cost efficient and energy efficient space heater?

Any electric heater would be the same in how efficient it is. The safest kind of eclectic heaters are the ones filled with oil.
Any cracks in the house should be filled in. Air infiltration is your biggest heat loss. So caulk any holes in the windows etc.

I envision a future where homes are built with whichever sustainable energy option is right for it’s particular area. We all know that going green with solar, wind, geothermal, sub-radient floors, tankless water heaters, solar water heaters, micro hydro, or whatever method is high dollar to ADD to a home. How about if the home came with a solar roof. You never had to pay for the conventional roof, or it’s removal/alteration? The same goes for all the other energy items I mentioned. Not all are right for every area, but builders could determine which were right for an area, and build homes with these things in them. Wouldn’t this drastically reduce the cost of any re-fit, or add-ons? Having subradient floors be the original floor installed would seriously reduce costs. Having a tankless water be installed vs. a conventional in the first place. Is anyone building homes which require little to no energy from electric & gas companies? Without seriously overinflating the cost?

Here’s an example for a warm climate: http://www.livinghomes.net/primer.html

Try Google for "green architecture" "green building" "sustainable architecture" and "alternative architecture". For prefab projects, try fabprefab.com. Consider green roofs, also.

Try architecture.com.

Look up "small houses".

Just because contractors won’t do it, doesn’t mean you can’t. Look up "natural building" to see how people are using their own hands and ancient techniques to minimize impact and energy expenditure, increase quality of life, reduce building costs by orders of magnitude, and generally deal with the issue directly.

So glad you asked.

On sunday, i went on the computer. I also went to my friends house. I hung out with them. I had so much fun.
That is a paragraph of active voice How can i change it to a paragraph of passive voice?

On the computer, at my friend’s home with them, all were delighted Sunday.
The verbal phrase "were delighted" is passive.

Start with all windows, skylights and glass walls allowing ambient energy into the home should all be facing north, eves facing south should be built with a two feet overhang. widows and doors all double pane glass. Water from sinks, showers and tubs should all be potted (saved)and recycled back into watering the yard and gardens around the house. Gravity should feed all water spouts. Breakfast rooms should be in the eastern facing homes and dinner tables should be in the western part of the home utilizing all the sun’s free light. A work out bicycle should have a generator capacity to store electric energy form it’s use. Solar water heating and floor heating is mandate. Exhaust from oven, grill, broiler or cooktop should be recycled and water heated as a result. Low watt flashlight bulbs with mirror back reflectors should replace all recessed lamps everywhere dropping a 150 watt bulb to a 2 watt bulb.

Has anyone ever installed on in their building, or do you know if it costs a lot for a developer to include in a new house?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_chimney#Solar_chimney_and_sustainable_architecture

install a PVC pipe paint it black, Walla you have a solar chimney

Information is below.

I may consider purchasing solar panels for my house, but I would like some answers or ideas from Yahoo! Contributors.

How much would one approximately pay for solar panels for a house?

There are some websites out there that give you good calculators to approximate the costs. I have referenced them below.

From what I have read it sounds like $9/kW.
Remember you are not just having to install solar panels but inverters and batteries too.

environmentally green

A building that uses renewable sources of energy to power all of it’s needs so that it does not need to use any electricity from the electrical grid, which is supplied electricity by burning fossil fuels.

I see new-age sustainable housing in all sorts of magazines, but does anyone here actually live in one? I have never seen one. I think they are something we just talk about, like completely electric cars.

Aren’t they basically trailers moved in sections? Or houses build in sections prefabricated in one location and moved to a suitable location later. These houses are completely indistinguishable from built on site houses, especially if they are made well. Its no wonder you haven’t seen any in person. For all you know there could be one right next door and you wouldn’t know it.

When folks buy a previously owned home, they are more concerned that it is in good shape and that the price is right. Who actually built it or whether it was originally a modular construction, pre-fabricated home is often over looked.

You need to find the manufacturer and the locations of previous contracts to determine if a certain home is in fact a modular built house.

The tradesmen who build these types of houses take great pride in their work, if you can’t tell the difference between a regular house and one of their modular units. That is a testament to the quality built into each home.