i do have elevations. the design and asthetic are both very pleasing. my architect is a young lady who recently graduated with honors from architect school, but without her apprenticeship fulfilled yet. she's doing the drafting work, based on my wish list and ideas. the builder is creative and experienced, i like his ideas and cost savings suggestions. plus dh is a retired plumber and building code official, so i think i'm in good hands all around. but i'm still nervous and i keep counting and counting and worrying about being on budget. no way can i pull this off if we go over by double or triple the budget, which is what everyone tells me to plan for! guess i'll be sheetrocking and painting myself if necessary.

Hannah - Sorry this is late and also a little off the cuff. If I were in your shoes looking for a suitable process without sinking a lot of money into this project, I would consider putting the entire pile outside and adjacent to (or piled up against) the north wall of your greenhouse. Cover it with foam board insulation so it doesn't cool off too quickly. That would get rid of the moisture problem, increase useable space inside, and likely help with the smell! Then run the garden hose through or under the wall and into the pile. I think garden hose would work fine at least for a few years. You'll need some sort of heat exchange inside. A very simple one would be one of the black tubs. A submersible pump pulls water out of the tub, through the pile and then drains back into the tub. This way you would be extracting heat but it wont be extremely cold water going into the pile (thereby hopefully reducing the chance that you could 'kill off' the composting process). I imagine theres some way you could get the thermo siphon / convection effect working but I just cant help there. I think having mechanical control of the flow is better. You could try using one of the many solar powered fountain pumps sold online. The problem with those is unless you get or build a battery charging system it will only run during the day. You'll want to make sure to minimize the amount of head pressure (height that the water needs to travel) with these pumps as they typically do not have real good pressure ratings. For tape, maybe get some that is specifically made for greenhouses: http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/poly-patching-tape/polyethylene-film-install-accessories I think gorilla tape makes a clear version now too... that's probably what I would try first.

Actually I thought about faux plants but was afraid, even with UVA protected plant products, they wouldn't hold up in the full sun. I have a window box on the house with artificial geraniums (designed for outdoor use) and the leaves turned faded purple in about a month. Autumn and holiday decorations hold up well...just struggling with floral ideas that will not fade! I would love to grow chives in the boxes but not sure they will even make it.

Use the same type hardware as on any exterior door and the locking is up to you to be careful.All the water lines will need to shut off in the winter and I for one do not like washing my hands in cold water.