Green Building Tools & Resources. Tiny Homes Are Cheap. Cheap (Potentially Free) To Build Houses. Theoretically, you could build any house for free, especially in a model such as the resource-based economy that participants in the Zeitgeist movement propose.
Realistically, a dwelling could only be built for free to the degree that it was made from local materials. Therefore any design that involves imported materials will very likely have some level of financial (and ecological) cost attached to it in most instances, though as we will see throughout this chapter this is not necessarily so, as we can often use the detritus of industrialised society to produce the sustainable homes of the future. DIY Off-Grid Home: Simple Solar Homesteading.
29 Features Off The Grid Homebuilders Should Consider. Guest Post By L.
Fred Roensch, PhD In addition to the expected, e.g. high level of insulation, caulking, double glazing, smoke and carbon monoxide monitors and security systems – the following features are suggested for any “off the grid” home. Most of these features are well known and widely used in energy efficient homes – some are not! I’d like to share 29 features that I think every off-grid homebuilder should think about… Minimize total enclosed square footage The smaller the enclosed space the lower the heating and cooling energy demand.Minimize footprint by using two stories. Tiny Off-Grid Cabin Is Completely Self-Sustaining. A project 30 years in the making, this tiny off-grid retreat on a coastal island in Maine is almost entirely self-sufficient.
Plans for Passive Solar Homes.
Create 25sqft Of Extra Storage By Building These Box Stairs. I know that many tiny houses today don’t have staircases in them because people opt for ladders instead; however, I don’t think ladders are a great option for several reasons.
First and foremost, there’s nothing quite like having to climb down a ladder in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. Further, as the home’s inhabitants get older, the use of a ladder will likely become more and more difficult. The good news is that a staircase can work in the right size tiny home and the space underneath it can provide for a lot of storage. Below I show you a step-by-step approach to creating just such a space. Green Homes – Mother Earth News. EcoShell Construction: Domes for the World. Mushroom Dome Cabin. Tiny cabin with geodesic dome roof in Aptos, CA.
Photos by Morgan. Tiny Earthen Home Dome. Project led by: Jeffrey Location: Aprovecho, Cottage Grove, OR Date: September 2011 – April 2012 Reclaimed timber ceiling feature, surrounded by earthen plaster The project began with an idea: by reducing the size of a house, we actually increase the space we live in.
Having a smaller home forces us outside and into nature. My aim was to make a well built cabin cheaply; using material destined for the landfill as much as possible.I feel that much of the western world has become a ‘throw-away’ society. No longer do we repair our belongings when they wear out or break, but instead we thrown them away and buy new ones. I wanted the cabin to be small, with room enough for only a bed, desk and small wood stove for winter heat.
Colorado Living Dome. Clever Make Over Ideas For Your New Home. Green Building 101: Inhabitat. As summer comes to a close, so does our weekly series on green building.
Hopefully we have expanded your knowledge of applying sustainable concepts in your own home, whether it’s a studio rental in the city or a straw-bale abode in the country. Loosely based on USGBC‘s pilot program LEED for Homes, the series has covered subjects ranging from community planning and transportation, to light bulbs and leaky faucets. If you’re arriving for the first time, or you want to review the series, here are the installments in order of appearance… Location & Community >Sustainable Sites >Water Efficiency >Materials & Resources >Indoor Air Quality >Energy & Atmosphere >Environmentally Friendly Lighting >Eco-Power >Appliances, Electronics & Energy Use >Design Innovation > After 2,000 Years, Courtyard Houses Are Back. Augusta Raurica/via Courtyard houses made a lot of sense.
The residents got outdoor space that was secure and usable at all times of day; nobody had to lock a window or door that opened into the central area. It provided lots of natural ventilation. The roofs were often used for rainwater collection.
Building With Recycled Materials. DIY Furniture & Decorating. DIY Outdoor Ovens, Stoves, Fire Pits: Cheap, Green, Easy. Other People's Related Pearls. Efficient & Affordable Modular House Made From Wood Pallets! Back in 2008, Andreas Claus Schnetzer and Gregor Pils, entered their Paletten Haus into the GAUDI competition, which was seeking designs for minimal houses of leisure for the XXI century.
Affordable Housing Made From Shipping Pallets. Remember the efficient and affordable Pallet House from last spring?
Well designers Andreas Claus Schnetzer and Pils Gregor have bested their original design with an even lower-cost shipping pallet home that was completed this year in South Africa. The 'Slumtube' utilizes discarded pallets along with other local materials like clay and straw to make an insulated and affordable home that can withstand the extremely hot and cold temperatures of Johannesburg.