Hi Adam:

When it did this some years ago I hired the architect before buying the 
land and he was able to point out the advantages and disadvantages of 
each lot.  Of course the main value of the architect is giving you the 
most house for the money that's customized for you wants.

Get a copy of the book "A Pattern Language" and study it.  I've found 
that most the the multi-star rated patterns are quite correct and 
promote your well being.  I now live in the forest and this time of year 
the light shining through the trees is a very pleasant sight.

Energy costs are going nowhere but up.  So the insulation should be 
maybe twice or more times what code might suggest.  Passive solar is 
also a good thing.  Don't forget about the cooling effect of plants and 
lawns or shading from deciduous plants.  Using outdoor water misters in 
hot climates might also be a way of saving on air conditioning costs.

I've been thinking about building another house where all the wiring and 
plumbing would be outside the walls.  But that may not be an option for 
those who want the house to look "nice".  Running conduit where it can 
be seen makes changes and repairs very easy.  It also allows for adding 
new conduit when and where needed.

When a car is made in high volume most of the bugs get fixed, so cars 
like the Taurus or Civic have excellent owner satisfaction ratings.  
I've owned a number of very low production number type cars and they 
tend to have bugs (independent of the price).  So expect to have bugs in 
a house where there's only one of them made.

Have Fun,

Brooke Clarke

w/Java http://www.PRC68.com
w/o Java http://www.pacificsites.com/~brooke/PRC68COM.shtml
http://www.precisionclock.com


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