Rooftop gardening is a simple idea that could help billions of people worldwide. It’s actually an ancient idea that’s already common in Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. Rooftop gardens are gaining traction in other places as well. The concept involves growing food on top of flat roofed buildings, primarily in urban areas where growing space is limited and the need for fresh food is greatest. France has just signed into law that all new commercial buildings incorporate green roofs.
Owen Geiger
Natural Building Workshops at Bottom Leaf Intentional Community
“Hello Owen, we’ve listed some more natural building workshops at Bottom Leaf Intentional Community. Next will be a bottle wall then an earth plastering workshop. Our last in this series will be building an earthen floor but we haven’t listed that one yet.
Burdei Homes
“The first order of business for any pioneer family was to make sure that they had shelter. In the Ukraine, some of the very first houses were simple huts that were made from sod and logs. The name for this structure was “burdei.”
Pre-cast Rammed Earth Panels
More interesting news from David Easton’s rammed earth company: “Our sister company Rammed Earth Works continues to develop technology for pre-cast veneer rammed earth panels made in our Napa factory and transported to job sites.
Low Cost Bamboo Truss System
Most of our readers know the world’s forests are being rapidly depleted. Sustainable alternatives are desperately needed. Low cost bamboo is a promising alternative building material because it’s rapidly renewable and widely available. Bamboo is especially well suited for Nepal that is in dire need of scalable solutions that can help rebuild the country. Ms. Neelima Basnet, a Nepali freelance architect, helped implement Joao Boto Caeiro’s bamboo truss method in Chapagaun near Kathmandu. Now there are 22 finished houses.
Grassroots Movement Building Earthbag Schools in Nepal
In collaboration with Good Earth Nepal.org and donations from the Schoeck Family Foundation, we’ve been touring earthbag projects near Kathmandu. We’ve seen numerous earthbag schools in our travels, but haven’t noticed any new conventionally built RCC/brick schools.