People frequently comment that Houston was built on a swamp. Not all of Houston was built on such terrain, but for most of the area the water table is pretty high. That is why we do not have many basements in this city. A geo-thermal heating/cooling system is possible here, but it is expensive. They drill the tubes down to a further depth where they can obtain a temperature around 55F. Such systems are very energy efficient compared to the standard forced air systems in most of our homes.

Slab foundations are not the most green solution for our city. That is why some green builders are considering pier and beam foundations again.

There are additional systems which can be added to your HVAC system to dehumidify your home. With what seems our ever present humidity, I decided against going such a route in my own home. I cannot recall the price off the top of my head, but adding a component is not so bad. Units for particular rooms has been my solution for family members. Those can be easily found in home improvement centers. I place them in the bedrooms or other room where my relatives spend the most time. They have been fairly helpful.

If you look in the categories section to the right, you will find a subsection called “green home conversion”. That is where most of my articles on looking at green fixes for the home are located. The Google search option to the right searches sites that I trust outside of this one, so you may find help there too.

Let me know if this helps. Thanks.

I quite enjoyed your blog, and would love to investigate more how these technologies could be used (economically) in Houston. The weather and humidity are at least quite predictable here. I am at the very least looking to force the 150F air out of my attic by solar (low expertise, expense, etc.), and hopefully feed any remainder back into my existing power to qualify for the (30%?) tax incentive.

I calculated ambient temperature 10-40 feet below ground as about 69F, year-round. To your knowlege, could this differential sustain efficient year-round climate control? (Summer:Mar-Nov Winter: Dec-Feb, alternating weeks only) Is this temperature right at all? How high is the water table?

Homes aren’t my area of expertise , but I would like to find cost-cutting/green measures to make Houston more bearable (and I LIKE the heat!). These slab-fixed homes must have some advantage, other than cost, but alas, they will do little for your cold feet.

On the less green side of things, I’m looking for an efficient way to dehumidify besides the thermostat when my house feels like a warm, wet cave. Ceiling fans (and computer use….sigh) just wreak havoc on my allergies and dry eyes (essentially my area of expertise).

Any ideas out there for any of these questions?

Please pardon any duplications of other posts, as I have no experience with this blog format, and have not seen the other responses yet.

Thanks,
Max Holland