Esthetics aside, does it make sense to have nine and ten foot (and more) ceilings in these green dwellings? (I must live on Pluto! I do live on Pluto!)
More glass heat, more A/C in summer, more cold in winter...more materials in construction for esthetics, I guess?
Adding taller window glass to these tall walls is predominately inefficient 16 hours' a day
and more so in extreme hot and cold conditions.
Oh, LEED'S guy!!!! Where art thou?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: TangoW,

Here's my guess...

Natural daylight is more green than using light bulbs, and windows up high can be opened for natural ventilation, to let hot air out when you choose not to run A/C on warm days.

In colder climates where I live, it would cost too much to heat in winter. On cloudy days, no sun to help warm the house up.

Since heat rises, I think the high ceilings would keep me cooler in the summer in a home with no air conditioning.

(I know the SF Victorians had high ceilings because of their gas lights--the heat and smell were up higher than where people were breathing.)

I almost said that heat rises. Wouldn't this be a + for the GH. Then, I considered the cold days. Alas, I forgot the GH is in the sunbelt, no need to worry about the extreme cold temps for this to be a problem.

My dear friends who had an A-framed home with the tall ceilings chose to live in the basement during the winter. Doesn't appear to be a problem in SC. Right?

Hi all. I think the builders really took the climate into consideration when designing the house. The windows are of the very highest efficiency, and as dreamn08 said, natural light means less electricity needed.
I sure would love to give it a try!

quote:

I sure would love to give it a try!

"Miss Mary, __________ is trying to cut in line."

How many times have we heard this? LOL Doesn't matter what age, right?

Best wishes, Marygoinggreen.

heat rises, cold drops,,, high school physics stuff,,, at any time, depending on the rotation of the fans & blade pitch, warm air can be recirculated,,, high ceilings down here're for summer heat management which reduces a/c loads.

For heating if you go with an in-floor radiant heat the heat is at your feet where you need it, it gently rises up to keep the rest of your body warm. I was doing some ladder work in our high ceilinged church during the summer, and once you get above 8-10 feet the AC isn't a factor, I really noticed it getting warmer the higher up the ladder I went but down on the floor it was quite comfortable.

Larger open spaces will seem cramped if you have 8 foot ceilings. In a small room a lower ceiling isn't much of a factor but in open floor concepts it really affects the feel of a room.

Thank you all for the interesting posts.
I was beginning to think the green MB was into bankruptcy!

I think the high ceilings are a carry over from the days before AC. It used to be part of the passive cooling strategy but now it is mostly an aesthetic choice which raises heating and cooling costs.

As a home designer I do not find much extra daylight coming in from slightly higher windows, you really need a clerestory to get much daylight and the GH I think has only one window up high. The living room was designed for drama and not efficiency.

Frank Lloyd Wright did a much better job of combining lower ceilings (although often too low) with clerestories to create efficient well lit spaces.