I'm building a 24 x 28 garage/shop and would like to have more than an
8 foot ceiling height in it. It's going to be a 4" monolithic pad and
I was thinking of laying 1 or 2 courses of 8" concrete block and
building with standard studs to keep from doing lots of cutting. One
corner of the pad will be about 16" - 20" below grade, but I won't be
backfilling around it, so I think I will be ok.

Some questions...
1. Any issues with this approach for increased height? Will put j
bolts in block and pressure treated sil plate.

2. When running the electrical conduit (stand alone garage), would you
run the underground conduit through the floor/block so it goes straight
up the inside walls?

3. If I am using 1 or 2 courses of block, is there a recommended way
of tilting up the stick framed walls onto the block/sill plate?

4. any general suggestion/things to look out for?