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system pushed costs beyond the originally budgeted amounts. The winter was alsoparticularly harsh, and delays in getting permits pushed a large portion of theconstruction through the bitter winter months of an unusually harsh winter in termsof amount of snow fall.If we could go back and do things differently I would recommend the following:R Wait until the land is paid off before starting construction. In Canada, theconstruction mortgage is based on the construction budget, and doesnt includethe land.R Build a smaller house over all.R Plan for adequate financing to fund each stage of construction.R Reduce the number of windows on the east and west sides of the house.R Simplify the design of some parts of the home.R Find a way to convince the building inspector to allow use to use compostingtoilets rather than septic.There are, of course, long term advantages to some of the things I would dodifferently, but in hindsight our cash flow difficulties caused more stress than Iwould wish on anyone else.The bottom line is that we were able to build our phenomenally efficient home,complete with solar panels and a wind turbine for about $128 per square foot. Thisputs us on par with conventionally built custom homes. Given the long and shortterm advantages of our home, the cost of our home is quire remarkably affordable.If the size is scaled down, less costly siding and window finishing considered, morestraw bale used, and b etter luck with the weather I firmly believe the costs could bein the $60-100 per square foot. For smaller homes and apartments the long termbenefits are particularly appealing.Now just imagine if the building industry became determined to bring down pr icingthrough economies of scale, automation, pre-fabrication, and bulk orders formaterials. Also, when applied to town homes, semi -detached homes and apartmentbuildings the potential is even greater. That more builders arent taking advantage ofthese ideas is a shame. More and more builders are starting to especially in Europeand even Japan where solar panel sales and wind power is growing rapidly.217