Good morning again.
Late again, but I want to share something from the other end of the construction spectrum. My old friend Preacher has been building his home for over 30 years, bit by bit, room by room, out of scrap and salvage, applying as he went the basic principles of passive solar design.
Some folks are going to see a horrifyingly funky hodge-podge in this, but I, and people knowledgeable about passive-solar design with see the basic truth of the concept: principles so sound that almost ANY application of them yields tangible results.
Welcome to vernacular construction; just folks doing it, without engineers, banks, architects or inspectors getting in the way.
Of course, to live with that degree of freedom, one has to live far away, preferably in a tiny valley on a small river.
And to build on a shoestring, one has to be inventive and resourceful in the use of materials:
One look at the shading on the south-facing glazing, seen in mid-May shows that the roof overhang is keeping out the sun when he doesn't need the gain. September through March, that sun would be pouring into the interior, warming up the adobe mass.
Here's the old man himself...