Dear Jeff, I thought it might stir your imagination if I shared some examples of the "messages" churches send through their use of space. the key element in most of these examples is not plant material and may have nothing to do with your church situation. Your project sounds like it will be something different, more along the lines of a way for you to share a gift and personal interest in plants. That may be fine, if it fits with the way your church makes decisions and as long as it is done well, which is probably why you are asking for input. ButÂyour project will send a message. The question is: What will that message be? What message is sent when > Members of a church use an entrance that "everyone" knows about, except newcomers who feel lost and confused after trying the locked front door. > Members tolerate a serious odor issue--I once overheard the child of a visiting family ask, "Mom, why does it stink in here?" > Additions to a church create a rectangular structure with an exterior courtyard in its center. It is tended for years by a primary donor, but after her death the tiny garden is mowed and hacked back and left forlorn. > Three times in 10 years a congregation votes down a proposal to install an elevator with exterior access, although fewer and fewer elderly members can safely navigate the 15 or so steps to enter the sanctuary or the 11 steps to go to a fellowship dinner in the basement. Now try these > A congregation carefully thinks through how to indicate the usual entrance: signs, sidewalks, greeters. > A congregation debates intensely the merits of putting in additional parking, creating a playground, or providing a memorial garden to honor the memory of members who have died. They decide on a capital fund drive to purchase a neighboring property so they can increase parking. They will build the play area on the existing property to meet a community need. > A congregation in rural Illinois discovers a desire to deepen its spiritual life and builds a prayer labyrinth in the neighboring cornfield (acreage belonging to the church). They invite the region to make use of this experience. The income from harvesting the corn goes toward local mission efforts. So, I guess I'm wondering what message your congregation feels called to send to its community? Wellspring

You aren't comparing like products. The Lennox ACX and the Goodman are low end units. The RAND-JEZ a top of the line unit with more features such as pressure protection, compressor diagnostics, sound blanket. Equipment wise, that would certainly be my choice. But before you decide, I'm also wondering if a heat pump might be a wise move for mild weather heating. What are your electric & gas rates like?

I have no plans to leave a section un-insulated. I'm only contemplating 1) bringing the XPS from the floor up to the top of the foundation blocks (basically just slightly lower than the bottom of the mudsill) and leaving it for a can of SPF after all the rest of the construction is done and just before the drywall goes up or 2) running a bead of foam in that gap before hanging the foam boards and bringing the XPS all the way up to the horizontal fire blocking attached to the bottom of the existing joists. I intend to make it continuously insulated regardless. I suppose it's all about if you have your blocking in place when put the foam up or not and a decisions based on logistics, not as much performance. Are you saying there's no appreciable difference between moisture performance between 1 and 2 inches? I plan to have mechanical dehumidification as the floor surface (especially in the unfinished section) will probably have a good amount of latent moisture coming through during heavy rain events simply based on the water table and ground water in the areas around the home.

I imagine the least expensive way to go is fiberglass batts. The key though is to first seal all the gaps in the attic floor associated with light fixtures, ceiling fans, plumbing and vent pipes, etc. Once all the old insulation and plywood is gone, closely inspect and note where these air passages are and seal them with fire-rated caulking or something similar. Lots of webpages, videos showing examples of this. This is important because while fiberglass insulation is a good thermal barrier, it is not an air barrier, so the effectiveness of the insulation is reduced. Check out sites like Energystar to determine how much insulation you need.