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Environmentally-Friendly Houses "QUANTUM SHOT" #233Link - article by Joshua S. Hill and Avi Abrams Most ecologically friendly house designs This article is co-written by our guest blogger Joshua S. Hill, from My Writing Voice and Avi Abrams, Dark Roasted Blend. "A Low Impact Woodland Home" by Simon Dale Now I had originally intended to take you on a tour through all the wonderful ecologically-clean houses that exist in our wonderful world, but it turns out that as a group, those who tend towards these houses apparently disdain the creation of a decent website, and even further hate actual content. Simon, with his wife, father in law and two young children spent 4 months building what they have termed a low impact woodland home, which is now their family home. Simon, who is more than willing to tote the fact that he is in no way an architect or certified builder, believes that a house of this scale is within the reach of any able-bodied person. Other nature-friendly designs around the world See more photos here ...
A Low Impact Woodland Home Take one baby, a toddler and a building site. Mix well with a generous helping of mud, combine with 6 weeks of solid welsh rain whilst living under canvas. Do this in candle light without a bathroom or electricity for three months. Having children is a major motivation for buying a house. Some past experience, lots of reading and self-belief gave us the courage of our conviction that we wanted to build our own home in natural surroundings. Initially we had no capital and we had decided resolutely to be full time parents whilst our children were young. So here we are today. Many people ask how we managed to build a house whilst camping without mainstream facilities and as the mum rather than the full time building blokes (my husband and father) I can assure you of a few things. If that hasn’t put you off more serious issues do provide an impetus to eco-building. So what did the house that rose from mud, slugs, physical effort, three months and a few grand entail?
Hobbit Houses: 15 Grassy Hill-Shaped Dwellings “In a hole in a ground lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing to sit on or eat: It was a hobbit hole and that means comfort.” This line by J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the beloved The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings fantasy novels, has inspired hundreds of copycat underground hobbit homes around the world – and is itself inspired by ancient Viking hill houses. The World’s First Hobbit Motel (images via: wayfaring.info) For tourists the world over, New Zealand will forever be associated with The Lord of the Rings, since it served as the filming and production location for the film version of the saga. Modern Hobbit Home in Switzerland (images via: toxel) From outside, this home is like any other hobbit hole: half-hidden in a grassy hill, sheltered from the elements and blending in seamlessly with its surroundings. Rent-a-Hobbit-Hole: Hebridean Earth House (images via: webecoist) Hobbit Shed
Toby And Liz's Strawbale Abode Toby and Liz's strawbale abode I thought I would put up a few pictures from the past. A couple years ago some friends of mine, Toby and Liz, decided to hold a "straw raising" party to get some help putting up the walls of their soon to be guest house out in the Arizona Desert. They needed to build the guest house first in order to have a place to stay while they built their main house out of tires. They did all of the tedious prep work and all the finish work. Toby and Liz built this casita the way everyone should...they let the building build itself. Here I am playing with chicken wire. After the first day's plastering. Notice shoulder high by the door you can see the large snake head that Toby is creating beginning to take shape. A finished interior shelf up high. Bed loft with skylight and cool window. Awesome little kitchen Here they made a really cool copper "skylight" around the opening for the chimney. The finished product. Photos by Monica Van Hall
Green Building Design and Construction Home Page Skip to: Content | Footer | Accessibility A-Z Index Green Building Home Page Program Highlights... Sustainable design or building "green" is an opportunity to use our resources efficiently while creating healthier buildings. It provides cost savings to all Californians through improved human health and productivity, lower cost building operations, and resource efficiency--and it moves us closer to a sustainable future. Check This Out! Program Information and Activities Last updated: September 13, 2011 Back to Top | Help | Contact Us | Site Index | Conditions of Use | Privacy Policy ©1995, 2014 California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle).
Yurt Buildng Here is a free copy of my book Build your own yurt, written in 1995, It has been used by a great many people who have built their own yurts. Our designs have progressed enormously since 1995. For a much more comprehensive guide see The Complete Yurt Handbook or see the rest of our website A complete guide to making a Mongolian Ger by P.R. King First edition 1995, Second edition 1997. Third Edition Fully revised and expanded for 1998 Internet Edition Jan 2000 The Yurt The English word Yurt comes from the Russian Yurta describing a circular trellis walled framed tent. The Kirgiz yurt with bent-wood roof poles and crown and a domed overall shape. The two tiered yurt with a pointed roof and two layers of wall section placed one on top of the other. The Mongol or Kalmuk ger with straight roof poles, a heavy timber crown, often supported by two upright poles, and fitted with a wooden door. This proven design is equally well suited to the many uses for moveable dwellings in this country.
A Low Impact Woodland Home - Hobbit Style Credit to Simon Dale published under a creative commons license Taking care of the environment has always been an interest of mine, especially when it comes to the different options we have with the housing of the future. To put it bluntly humans are very wasteful when it comes to buildings and we often use materials wastefully and the buildings are often designed for looks and not functionality. This is a house built in Wales by Simon Dale and his father in law. Simon points out on his site that he is not a carpenter and claims this building is accessible to anyone. If you are interested in learning more about the house click through to Simon site all about it here. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.