The attached is a combination of play, learning more about using MoI and a serious first study. I am working on a book dealing with small, energy efficient houses that could be built by anyone with reasonable basic construction skills and lots of hard work.
This is a first rough study for a thin shell concrete house built into a hillside ... using both passive solar and active solar for heating and basic electrical needs. It's south facing with fairly large glass areas, relatively to the small floor area, at the entry and solar photovoltaic panels in the elliptical collector above the entry.
This work will evolve through many renditions and a variation on the theme may end up in the book after its finished and rendered. One of the attached drawings shows the ground plane to give an idea of how it fits into the hillside. The other shows more of the structure.
I started with a simple sphere and shaped it with control points ... then did some slicing and trimming.
MoI makes it so easy!
cheers,
eric

My wifes father was a brilliant electical engineer. His dream home he built had an air actuated system that would use thermal sensores throughout the house to open and close low and high vent systems to work with the environment in keeping the house properly cooled or heated. The hot water piping also all went "UP" from the water heating system. This gave instant hot water at any tap in the house and used much less electicity. As soon as a pipe goes "Down" again is where it loses it's heat.!

All thought out and designed in the house.

Maybe talk about "Other" aspects of your houses here as well!

Burr

Thanks, Burr

I will keep on posting as this one develops and will post any of them when I use MoI for design development. I have been working on this book for some years now but keep getting diverted with 'real' projects. It sure looks like the construction industry is slowing down for awhile and I am looking forward to time to do some focusing on writing and new (for me) design ideas. I did a lot of energy efficient design in the late 70's and early 80's and then oil got cheap again and clients were no longer interested in spending capital now for savings in the future.
I have an energy efficient 'green' development in the early design stages but the developer has placed a 'hold' on it.

and so it goes,
eric

What happens to the simple runoff from your roofs downpipes!

So simple to get it reabsorbed into the soil of your house block instead of washing away to the sea in drains!

People go mad at the authorities for no longer being able to drill bores to access water from aquifers---but wont do anything positive to replesh those same aquifers.

What year round air-conditioning do you need if your house rooms are at the perimeter of an internal water tank?

So much that is put "on hold"
(Here, in the driest city in the driest State of the driest continent in the world!)

(Where ALL our electricity could be generated from hot rocks--no oil/coal/or whatever needed!)

Hawaiii?---hey! Burrman!

Brian

Mumble/grumble

Hi Brian ,,,

In my own case I capture the rain water in a cistern and use it myself ... filtered, of course. I also use a composting toilet,

I am hooked up to the grid but my bill is low as my house is partially heated by passive solar and my house and studio are small.

I am currently snowed in. The guy who plows my long and steep driveway is enjoying the holidays with his family but I hope he comes home soon as I am almost totally out of vegetables and miilk (Scotch, too).

Speaking of authorities (grrrrrr).

Happy New Year

eric

This may be of interest.
Remember that here we have a lot of 40+C summer weather.

I did the photography for the article, Australian House and Garden, back in 1980.

Brian

Very much so ..

Thanks Brian

cheers
eric