I find this compelling.

[Limper]

http://www.gensteel.com/

For under $107,000 I can get a 60' x 200' building... thats 12,000 square feet of space.

For $74,900 I can get 10 acres in the near St Louis sticks.

For anotehr $100,000 I can finishout much of that space into excellent living areas and hook up HVAC.

So for $280,000 I can have the ultimate 12,000 square foot loft style residence and lots of land to wander around on!

[doc]

And how much will it cost to heat and cool every year ? BTW if you do that go with propane, hooking it up with a propane electrical generater is cuts costs down.

[Limper]

And how much will it cost to heat and cool every year ? BTW if you do that go with propane, hooking it up with a propane electrical generater is cuts costs down.

I could insulate the hell out of the living space and keep that down... 3 foot deep of packing peanuts would do wonders for insulating.

[doc]

Whats the R factor for 3' of packing peanuts ? You need more then peanuts Limper, go with either batts or blown to get the R-40/50 you need, go to the EERE (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/index.html) website.

[Limper]

Whats the R factor for 3' of packing peanuts ? You need more then peanuts Limper, go with either batts or blown to get the R-40/50 you need, go to the EERE (http://www1.eere.energy.gov/consumer/tips/index.html) website.

3' of packing peanuts is not only a high R factor... its free. If 3' doesn't cut it I could go with 10' with that sort of square footage... I could live nicely in a 40x180 area.

Stack old tires agains the exterior walls fill them with sand and fill the spaces with old cans filled with sand... face it with river rock and concrete and your building is damn near geothermal.

Solar panals on the roof, one of those wind generators and your propane rig and you're golden on cheap living.

Just have to get outside of zoning laws cause although huge and efficient... it won't be pretty.