Hey jrslick: The Cool-Bots work, I know that much. Good friends of ours use one to chill a mostly-buried root cellar for their market produce. Works great. We're converting a shed to do the same. I assume you've checked out the Cool-Bot website, which is quite informative.

I was thinking about your idea. I like it. Could you set the building on a platform in-filled with straw bales, to superinsulate the floor (which should be cheaper than fiberglass)? Maybe the same treatment for the roof, depending on where you live. We have little rain, and a tarp would keep them dry here. Could save a lot of money, lumber, work, etc.

If you own a backhoe (or trade with someone who does) you could bury it and save your self all the framing, etc. Our friend's buried storage requires very little additional cooling, as it maintains about a 55-60 degree temperature with no inputs.

I was thinking about getting some big steel container from the local salvage yard and doing the same thing.

Good luck...

Those steel containers get really hot in the summer, prehaps some 'cool-seal' (white plastic liquid roofing) over the top. Or frame a pole-barn/shed roof and insulate the roof. I was given some insulation for log homes and it's really thick, 6"-8". Our neighbors had a deer-processing business out of their garage, and they used some of the log insulation to build a 'freezer' for the deers to chill/age in. If you bury anything, keep in mind that you will need to support the sidewalls, or the dirt will push against and possibly crush the walls.

You CAN get semi-trailers/truck beds that were formerly 'cooler-trucks' and they would already be insulated. Any small hole just fill with 'great stuff' or caulking.

I have a buddy who buried a cooler truck trailer with no problem, he buried it all except for the front door, buried it back into the side of a hill, he uses it for a root cellar and storm cellar.
josh