The walls are up and the floors are down.

We are ecstatically happy because the drywall is up.  It's amazing how fast that happens and totally awesome that it makes the house really look like a place you want to live in.  Drywall can contain differing amounts of flyash (the burned residue from coal-based power plants).  I believe someone told me that all drywall contains at least some flyash.  The use of flyash is a way to turn a waste substance into a useful product.  We elected to not use a high flyash content drywall because we were concerned about heavy metals contaminants.  So the drywall isn't as green as it could be, but in terms of IAQ (Indoor Air Quality) we think it's better.  This is another good example of how going green isn't a kneejerk reaction; it requires you to balance several factors.  Sometimes one green aspect (use of flyash) can conflict with another green component (IAQ).  Queue Kermit the Frog, who famously said, "It isn't easy being green."

Isabel guarding the drywall.

Also recently completed are the radiant floor tubes.  The whole house will be heated with radiant floor tubes.  This is the same principle as a radiator that sits against the wall in many old houses in this area.  Hot water, produced by the geothermal system, flows through the tubes in the floor and releases its heat into the room.  From science class you may remember that heat is transmitted in 3 ways, radiation energy from a hot body (not Angelina or Brad), convection (the heating of air) and conduction (contact between your body and a heat source).  Radiant floors will transmit heat using all 3 of these ways, thus partly explaining its efficiency.  Of particular note is the conduction transmission of heat.  Unless you stand right on top of a floor register or next to a radiator, you don't experience conduction in most homes.  In this home heat will be conducted to anything that touches the floor.  This means the furniture will be warm, we will be warm and even toilet seats will be toasty!

The radiant tubes for heating the house are laid over 

a moisture barrier which is resting on the wood subfloor.  This picture

also shows some of the drywall, plumbing and electricity in place.

An important aspect of the radiant floor system is the use of a lightweight concrete under the brand name Elastizell.  By using this concrete we get the best possible transmission of heat from the radiant floor tubing into the room.  You can leave the concrete as the final surface or you can put carpeting, tile or wood over it.  Tile and wood don't affect the heat transmission very much, but carpeting tends to block some of the release of heat from the tubing.  We will be using tile, wood, marmoleum and cork coverings.  Of all those coverings, cork is the one that might block some heat transmission.  Go to this website to learn about Elastizell, including its sound deadening and fire blocking qualities:  Elastizell Floors

In this picture you can see the same room from the picture above, but now

the Elastizell concrete floors are poured over the radiant floor tubes.

Onward and upward,
Mark, Mark and Isabel