Energy Efficient Homes for Gulf Coast and Louisiana Hot Humid Climates

 

All of the following residences have means to provide for passive ventilation during moderate exterior conditions usually by creating a chimney effect and means to shade or insulate the interior from the exterior during uncomfortable exterior conditions.

 

BEAU SOLEIL LOUISIANA SOLAR HOME

University of Louisiana Lafayette’s entry into the 2009  Solar Decathlon.

Sited in an open field on Campus

800 s.f. of air conditioned space utilizing one VRF mini-split HVAC system, air to air heat exchange.

Active solar systems for electrical power and water heating.

On grid electrical cost in the month of August: Approximately $35.00. 

Much more information: beausoleilhome.org

 

  

COREY SAFT’S PASSIV HAUS

1200 s.f. home built with SIP panels with active air to air VRF mini-split HVAC system.

Built with fairly low budget of approximately $125.00/sf

European Beau Haus feel.

Sited on a urban lot near University of Louisiana Lafayette campus.

STEPHEN ORTEGO’S HALF HAUS

Another SIP panel project with active air to air VRF system.

1200 s.f. home with mid budget European Beau Haus feel

Sited on a urban lot Carencro Louisiana.

 

EDWARD CAZAYEOUX’S HOME

Gulf coast vernacular residence built with conventional wood framing but techniques to utilize stacking effect of rising hot air to cool the structure both within the building envelope and between the roof and decking. The home is thermally grounded with an enclosed crawl space that is utilized as a plenum to circulate air through the home. The home uses interior walls fabricated with bousillage (spanish moss and clay) to provide for mass for thermal storage of energy.

Sited on a rural wooded site in Breaux Bridge

2,500 s.f. of air conditioned space utilizing a closed loop water exchange HVAC system

 

THE MUELLER / EDWARDS HOMESTEAD

Gulf coast vernacular residential form with wrap around porch and utilizes open loop water exchange HVAC.

Very similar in construction to the Cazayeoux Home

Sited in open field near Sunset Louisiana.

 

Ron Paul (of Course) Makes Sense on the “Ground Zero Mosque” � LewRockwell.com Blog

The N.Y. or Federal government should not have any bearing where or how a place of worship should be built. We must be careful in supporting ideas that run counter to the U.S. constitution or we void all reason for being truly an American citizen. According to our constitution, the state has no business in religion or in property rights except to abridge wrongs committed by one against another via the court system. Once the state heads down the slippery slope of making rules on which religion is kosher we who are Papist, Christian Scientist, Mormon, Jewish, Buddhist, etc are surely to be looked upon as suspect.

Ron Paul (of Course) Makes Sense on the “Ground Zero Mosque” � LewRockwell.com Blog

Thomas Jefferson's Vision of Government and Political Philosophy in a Nutshell

If only our government was as envisioned by Thomas Jefferson instead Karl Marx, we would be a lot better off. Thanks to Thomas Dilorenzo via Lew Rockwell.com Blog.

From Thomas Jefferson: Writings (Library of America, 1984), pp. 1056-1057 is a January 26, 1799 letter from Jefferson to Edbridge Gerry (inventor of “gerrymandering”) explaining his political philsophy:

“I do then, with sincere zeal, wish an inviolable preservation of our present federal constitution, according to the true sense in which it was adopted by the States, that in which it was advocated by its friends, & not that which its enemies apprehended, who therefore became its enemies; and I am opposed to the monarchising its features by the forms of its adminstration, with a view to conciliate a first transition to a President & Senate for life, & from that to a hereditary tenure of these offices, & thus to worm out the elective principle.  I am for preserving to the States the powers not yielded by them to the Union, & to the legislature of the Union its constitutional share in the division of powers; and I am not for transferring all the powers of the States to the general government, & all those of that government to the Executive branch.  I am for a government rigorously frugal & simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt; and not for a multiplication of officers & salaries merely to make partisans, & for increasing, by every device, the public debt, on the principle of its being a public blessing [as Hamilton called it].  I am for relying, for internal defense, on our militia solely, till actual invasion, and for such a naval force as may protect our coasts and harbors from such depredations as we have experienced; and not for a standing army in time of peace, which may overawe the public sentiment, nor for a navy, which, by its own expenses and the eternal wars in which it will implicate us, will grind us with public burthens, & sink us under them.  I am for free commerce with all nations; political connections with none; & little or no diplomatic establishment . . . .  I am for freedom of religion . . . for freedom of the press, & against all violations of the constitution to silence by force & not by reason the complaints or criticisms, just or unjust, of our citizens against the conduct of their [political] agents . . .

. . . These, my friend, are my principles; they are unquestionably the principles of the great body of our fellow citizens . . .”

Dangerous Allies: Big Business and Big Government

Dangerous Allies: Big Business and Big Government

by Ron Paul

Last week ended with some promising news on finally stopping the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Unfortunately the administration still seems to believe that shutting down working oil wells is a higher priority than effectively dealing with the broken one. They are again issuing a moratorium on offshore drilling while maintaining a de facto ban on new permits even for shallow water drilling which they previously stated would not be affected. The courts have twice declared this unconstitutional, over 70% of the people see this as unreasonable, yet the administration seems determined to simply end offshore drilling, at least for those producers that cannot afford to sit idle for any unknown period of time until the ban is lifted.

Whether or not this latest effort will hold up in court is yet to be seen. Sadly, many smaller oil producers in the Gulf see the writing on the wall and instead of waiting around and risking their livelihoods on the whims of American politicians and judges, they are leaving for friendlier business climates. What is happening to this country when the Republic of the Congo is better for business than the United States?

One big factor is regime uncertainty. Regime uncertainty is the opposite of the rule of law. It is the rule of the whims of the people who are in charge and what mood they are in on any particular day. It is usually associated with third world dictatorships and plays a major role in why some countries remain poor. When a business cannot predict whether a government will issue a permit, confiscate or nationalize their capital investments, tax them into bankruptcy or arbitrarily stall their operations, they tend to do business elsewhere. This type of government hostility is not conducive to wealth creation and it is tragic to see it chasing away businesses here when wee need the jobs and productivity more than ever.

When the rule of law is respected it provides business with some measure of predictability so they can plan and operate smoothly. When it is not respected there are just too many variables, too much risk of loss or waste. Of course disregard of the rule of law creates other problems, too. For the larger and better connected businesses it creates the opportunity of regulatory capture. If the government becomes too unpredictable, one business survival strategy is to become so involved in government and regulatory bodies that they effectively gain control over the very entities that are supposed to keep them in line. In other words, if you can’t beat the government, become the government.

More here.

Are Liars and Killers employed by BP and the Federal Government?

Strong accusations, read on

BP committed fraud in furnishing oil spill response data required to obtain a permit to enable them to drill the MC 252 location. The reality is they were not prepared to handle or control a blowout and resulting oil spill of this magnitude. Simply put, they LIED.

BP, in their haste to cut corners and save money in the completion process on the well location at MC 252, exhibited willful neglect in their duties to complete the well safely which led to the blowout and explosion that killed eleven people. Eleven souls that will never come back. Eleven families with mothers and fathers and wives and children. Children who will never see their fathers again.

This neglect and loss of life constitutes negligent homicide and all involved should be arrested and charged as such.

So now I have established what kind of people we are dealing with, LIARS and KILLERS. It appalls me that they are still in total control of this disaster after almost a month has passed.

Now I would like to speak about our Federal Response to the disaster.

The first response to the disaster was the U.S. Coast Guard, who has assumed duties of protecting BP and aiding them in downplaying the spill, providing BP representatives with armed guards to keep away the press and TV camera crews and sending representatives to local communities to provide false information on safety and health dangers related to the oil spill and the chemical dispersants used.

The second response came from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), who in an effort to minimize the spill and save BP face, unleashed two dangerous chemical dispersants which were injected into the water column at the sea floor and sprayed on the surface over the oil and workers in the areas of the spill and along the coast close to coastal fishing communities. These chemical dispersants contain solvents that are dangerous to marine populations in the Gulf and coastal estuaries and were never fully tested for dangers to humans. In the product sheets for these chemical dispersants, there is always a disclaimer: “This listing does not mean that EPA approves, recommends, licenses, certifies or authorizes the use of this product on an oil discharge.”

And that IS exactly what EPA did and is still doing with total disregard to marine populations that will collapse because of it and human populations that will get sick and may die because of this decision.

“Kill the Ocean, Save the Beaches,” a “Trade-Off” decision. Under what logic does this work? The Gulf is the Mother and the Estuaries are the nurseries. If the Mother dies, there will be no children to incubate.

The reality is the oil and chemical dispersants are entering our estuaries as we speak. The “Trade-Off” logic FAILED.

The above was taken from testimony by Clint Guidry, Shrimp Harvester Representative on the Louisiana Shrimp Task Force that was created by the governor.

Read the rest here.

It is common knowledge this not how the oil industry generally practices, but BP has a history of not being a good corporate citizen. In fact BP has used government in very corporatist fashion to obtain advantage beginning with the overthrow of the Iranian government in 1954 till today. BP effectively acquired regulatory capture and did what it pleased and we know the result.

Mike Allen at Politico sets the stage for 2012 with the same old Statist candidates

Mike Allen,
I think you need to get out of the Northeast corridor a little bit. Your Playbook for 2012 is old news.
With the ever growing tea party's emphasis on smaller government, fiscal responsibility,and bringing the proper power balance between states and the federal government, I do not see any of the candidates that you highlighted garnering much support from the libertarian leaning tea party.
If the Republican elites push forward any of these big government republicans then you will probably see a very strong tea party effort to counter.
If you were smart you would be also looking a candidates who are libertarian leaning such Ron Paul,  Jim Demint and others who have not surfaced yet. Social and security issues are not driving the train anymore. There is war fermenting in this country and it's between Jeffersonian / free market / states rights decentralist and Hamiltonian/Keynesian/socialist/centralizing statist.
Everyone you name is either a statist candidate (Mike Pence, Mitt Romney) running on social issues, (Mike Huckabee) or security issues (Sara Palin, Newt Gingrich) and none of these can bring libertarians on board.

The left flunks Economics 101 again

By Brian Coulter

Failure and misery mark the history of socialism. Its earliest recorded manifestation on these shores was the Plymouth settlement in 1620. Gov. William Bradford wrote concerning the condition of their early collectivist colony:

"The experience that was had in this common course and condition … that the taking away of proprietie, and bringing in communitie into a comone wealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this comunitie … was found to breed much confusion and discontente, and retard much imployment that would have been to their benefite and comforte. For the yong-men … did repine that they should spend their time and streingth to worke for other mens wives and children, with out any recompense … And for mens wives to be commanded to doe service for other men, as dresing their meate, washing their cloaths, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery … "

Eventually, Bradford would cease the communal creation and sharing of goods and make each family responsible for their own property and necessities.

In this manner the colony flourished, and socialism should have forever been known as the failure it is.

Socialism, though, promises a society with the luster of perfection, the commercial without the caveat. And like any good advertisement offering claims of the failures of Brand X, capitalism, with its plentiful opportunities for success, but without any unrealistic guarantees for achieving it, seems a desperate gambit to those taken in by hype and false promises. For the progressive leftists who pledge the undeliverable within the secreted vehicle of socialism, the rules do not apply. In fact, leftists don't even understand basic economic realities.

A May study using a Zogby poll of 4,835 American adults indicates the more liberal the person, the less he understands economics. Eight basic questions were posed to the participants who were also asked to identify their political philosophies.

The results from the first of these questions reflected the percentage of conservatives answering incorrectly was 22.3 percent, very conservatives 17.6 percent and libertarians 15.7 percent. However, the percentage of progressive/very liberals answering incorrectly was 67.6 percent and liberals 60.1 percent. There was no variance, since the other seven questions produced similar results.

All told, the ideological categories performed, best to worst, with an average number of incorrect responses from 0 to 8: Very conservative, 1.30; Libertarian, 1.38; Conservative, 1.67; Moderate, 3.67; Liberal, 4.69; Progressive/very liberal, 5.26.

Read the rest here.

Louisiana - Resource Rich and Dirt Poor

Louisiana is one of the wealthiest states in the United States in resources. But has the lowest per capita income of every state except Mississippi. This almost entirely due to resources extracted from Louisiana to be benefit of the federal government and commercial entities based mainly in the Northeast while Louisiana is left to contend with cost to mitigate damage to it's fragile environment and it's population.

Yearly, billions of dollars in oil royalties go to the federal government from oil extracted more than three miles off of the Louisiana coast, yet very little is recouped for damage to the environment from this mining activity. An excellent article How BP, Big Oil and the Feds Screw Louisiana to Bring You Cheap Gas explains this unfair situation, although it leans too heavily on BP and Big Oil as culprits. Despite common belief, the industry is heavily regulated by the federal government, especially in "federal waters" and is as responsible as any other entity to allow BP to skirt in place safety requirements. James Carville has also penned an op-ed that that argues the issue that Louisiana has long been carrying the risk but not benefiting from off shore drilling at Louisiana demands justice, not charity .

It is time for this state to stand up to the federal government and nullify Truman's grab of Louisiana's resources and demand it's rights to royalties beyond the three mile limit. If Louisiana could somehow obtain it's rightful full ownership of royalties then perhaps other coastal states would see the economic advantage to allow for drilling off their coast despite the BP debacle.

If Jindal had any Gonads

The federal government is essentially at economic war with Louisiana. If the Obama administration can persuade the courts to shut down oil exploration in the gulf Lafayette and South Louisiana will go the way of Detroit. Already major service companies have slashed their work forces by as much fifty percent to contend with the moribund economy and stoppage of drilling.

If Jindal had Louisiana's interest at heart instead of personal ambitions, he would be leading a two prong effort.

First, he would initiate and lead our legislature to pass laws to nullify the federal ban on drilling.

Secondly, he would sue for control of oil resources off of our state. As I have indicated before, the federal government has benefited from billions of dollars in royalties a year from our waters since my grandfather was a young man.

I have no compation for BP, one the worst corporatist entities in the world. It really appears that BP relies on centralized governments to maximize profits to detriment of the localities of where it pursues its commercial interest. Not a good neighbor.

The Construction Industry in the Gulf Coast is running on Vapors

The Gulf Coast is being affected by the same disease that other parts of the country have. The party appears over for the marginal brokers in the construction industry who were able to ply their wares in overheated economic times. From now on only those who are truly craftsman will be able flourish. This is good in a lot respects, there were many projects in the last ten years I have had to educate superintendents and construction managers who really were at best journeyman carpenters or grads with fresh construction technology degrees. To make it in this industry, especially in tough times, takes more knowledge and wisdom than talent alone.

Hopefully some day we will see the industry in a steady slow growth mode instead of the crazy ups and downs we have seen the last few years. But we need to take care of the hangover from speculating such as house flipping and over development of certain markets in other areas of the country brought on by federal reserve loose money and loose lending standards sponsored by our federal government. The last thing we needed was Obama curtailing the oil industry.

Charles Melancon voted for more BIG Government

Today Rep. Melancon turned tailed and voted not to audit the Federal Reserve.

Since he would prefer not to vote with his own kind, I can not vote for him.

I am back and had enough! I will start a list of criminals who are raping this country

The No. 1 criminal is the current chief of staff of the current president.
He was born in the U.S. and holds a U.S. passport but also
served in the military for a foreign government, so what is he?
Well if you believe the Chicago Tribune, he is the No.1 criminal running our country
He allegiance is to his own pocket book and another country.
Rahm Emanuel

The id of the Neocons

It is sometimes so hilarious yet so tragic for the world of the id that dominates the Neocon mind. It seems to have an greater danger for other cultures and people as the worst of the Spanish and British Empires. Empires sparked by religious and economic demons who laid waste to cultures that were flourishing and self-sustaining but now extinguished and dependent on western statism.

Why? How?

Why would any country give a private bank the right to print its currency and then borrow it from the same bank and pay interest on it? How can any country print endless supplies of money and expect it to hold its value? Why would any country borrow money to give it to another country? Why would anyone loan people money until the only thing they can do is pay interest and expect the economy to be OK? How can any country kill people in another country and think that people in that country are not going to get angry and retaliate? How can any country think that it can allow people to cross its borders at will and not have problems? How can any country take 50% of the wealth from its people and expect its economy to be OK? How can any country burden its population with regulation and expect them to remain ambitious and hopeful? How can any country establish programs to support its population and expect them to remain industrious? How can any country take the freedom, the very reason its immigrants came here, away from its population and expect them to remain loyal?

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know when something stinks.
by: Web Smith

This War on Terrorism is Bogus

So says Britsh Minister Michael Meacher. From the Guardian Newspaper, one of Britains biggest of big media, a great article on how the Amercian people were duped by their leaders and it is not over with yet.

Welcome to the USSR

Welcome to the United States Socialist Republic.

This is what the Major Media has wrought and the sheep are voting in. Either major party's nominee will push this country even beyond what Karl Marx even dreamed as the ultimate socialist society. Google the ten planks of the Communist Manifesto and you will find that we are already effectively living in socialist country with eight of the ten planks fulfilled.

Now with Obama, Clinton and McCain we will even be entering an age of hyper socialism. National Healthcare, which was incidently paved it's way by GW Bush in his Drug Prescription Act, is about to come to fruitation is even beyond what Marx envisioned.

The middle classes effective tax burden, close to 50% and this does not include the stealthy inflation tax which burdens us now with the value of the dollar tanking, will sky rocket to pay for past and future obligations of the federal government.

I would like to understand how we will pay for Socialized Medicine, 100 years of Imperial military adventures and much more that the federal behemonth will be tasked with.

If you just take one of our valued professions, Pharmacy, and you can see what will happen to the rest of our professions and services. Now, few pharmicist work independently, most are now employees of major corporations. We are in the mist of a complete Corporatist takeover of society if it has not come to fruitition already.

When it is said and done, if not already, we will truly live in the type of socialist society known as Fascism.

Ron Paul is sounding the warning before it's too late, but no one wants to heed his call, they only laugh and call him and our constitution quaint, kooky and out of date.

Independence - Why not Louisiana

Vermont wants its independence. Texas and other states would also would love their independence. The U.S. federal government is pushing for Kosovo's independence. Why not Louisiana? Economically, the state of Louisiana is robbed of billions of dollars annually from oil royalties from 20 miles out while it begs the federal government for funds to offset damage to the fragile environment from production and exploration activity and support. Louisiana could be as rich as Saudi Arabia if its offshore oil resources were not confiscated by the feds. Another reason why Louisiana is a very good candidate for independence is that it is unique in culture. It is more akin to the Caribbean than the Northern European culture that has been pushed down the throats of the people of this state. The prime time TV show on CBS, Jericho, is a harbinger of what lies ahead. True self determination of people or suffocation of culture under centralized socialist regimes.

Condi Rice- The Bitch Continues to Lie

In the making of George Bush's Iraqi Foli Gras, Condoleezza Rice was one of the leading enablers of the NeoCons.

Multitudes of people including Former Marine Scott Ritter, US Arms Inspector, in Iraq pointed out her lies about Al-Qaida/Iraqi ties and WMDs in Iraq prior to Bush's debacle.

The following article written by Reuters indicates Rice does not have an honest bone in her body.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vehemently defended her integrity Wednesday when asked about an independent report that found she made 56 false statements on the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

At a congressional hearing, Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat, questioned Rice about a report from the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity that accuses Bush administration officials of making 935 false statements about Iraq, which the United States invaded in March 2003.

"This study has found that you, Madame Secretary, made 56 false statements to the American people where you repeatedly pump up the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and exaggerate the so-called relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda," he said at the start of a testy exchange with Rice.

"Congressman, I take my integrity very seriously and I did not at any time make a statement that I knew to be false, or that I thought to be false, in order to pump up anything," Rice replied. "Nobody wants to go to war."

Bush's statements about suspected Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were the cornerstone of his case for going to war in Iraq to topple Saddam.

No such weapons were found following the invasion. The United States now has 157,000 troops in Iraq seeking to restore stability to the country, where a vicious insurgency and sectarian violence erupted after the U.S.-led invasion.

Rice, who was national security adviser at the time of the invasion, squarely blamed the U.S. intelligence community for its erroneous conclusions that Iraq had biological and chemical weapons and was seeking to rebuild a nuclear weapons program.

When Wexler sought to cut her off, Rice spoke over him and said: "I am sorry congressman -- because you questioned my integrity, I ask you to let me respond.

"Now, we have learned that many of the intelligence assessments were wrong," she added. "I will be the first to say that it was not right."

"At no time did I intend to, or do I believe that I did put forward false information to the American people," she said.

The reputations of many Bush aides -- including former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who made the case for the war before the U.N. Security Council -- have been tarnished by the fact that no weapons of mass destruction were found. (Editing by Eric Beech)

Source: Reuters North American News Service

Why Hasn't EVERY Voter Heard About This?!

Whether you are Christian or not, this video pegs it.

We have sold our souls

In this article "Ron Paul’s military support, the paleo-conservative tradition and the charge of anti-Semitism" the following post so succintly expresses why Ron Paul has gained more campaign contributions than all of the other candidates combined.

A NEW HOPE
We all have been living a nightmare. A vision D. Eisenhower warned of in his 1961 farewell address to the nation. In his address, Eisenhower warned of the corruption of our government, our society, and our culture by the MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. It seems that as a nation, we have not listened. Eisenhower’s dire vision has become our reality. And from this fearful dream, this nation is waking. Our eyes are opening to the truth collectively for the first time. WE THE PEOPLE are finding that we have been subjugated, placated into ignorance and fear, lied to by the very people we have entrusted to preserve and protect our rights, liberties, and our constitution. Many will turn away in fear of truth and close their eyes once again. To open our eyes to this reality, is to also understand that we are all responsible for it as well. complacency and dependence upon the machine keeps THE PEOPLE in line because it is convenient and safe. We have sold our souls. We have as a nation let this happen to ourselves.
My heart breaks for the people of this nation. Our government wages war upon our freedoms, liberties, and our constitution. I watch our republic’s destruction, not to the sound of guns or bombs, but to the sound of thunderous applause of those held captive by terrified patriotic blindness, guided by the propaganda of fear, as we give our rights and even the lives of our fellow man for the profit of the corrupt. A fear that is erasing our great history of freedom and repeating itself 70 years later with another dictatorship of war, under the guise of homeland security and the protection of the people.
BUT THERE IS STILL HOPE.
With love and openness, we can overcome ignorance and fear. It is our right as the people, and my duty as a United States MARINE written into our constitution by our founding fathers, entrusted to us, by the people, to ensure that our liberty, freedom, and the constitution never again become the subjugation of the corruption that we have wrought upon ourselves. We must take back our country, and give it to the people. So let us open our hearts, take responsibility, and make our HOPE become our reality. Lets begin REVOLUTION. His name is Dr. Ron Paul

by: Tim Gallien SGT USMC