You often hear that fossil fuels are phasing out, and solar and wind power can’t produce enough electricity to meet the demand in coming decades, so some advocate the use of nuclear energy to fill the gap. But that’s not the thinking of Amory Lovins, the 76-year-old co-founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute in western … Read more
Built in 1980, this 1,731 square foot, three-bedroom home was originally designed by architect Don Metz, who designed several earth-sheltered homes in the Lyme, New Hampshire area. The owners added solar power and heat pumps, making the home come into its full potential, with limited use of fossil fuels. The home has passive solar heat … Read more
This well ventilated home with plenty of natural light in Gujarat, India has three bedrooms and a pool. The layout is a simple one, divided in two blocks, one with all living areas and the other with bedroom spaces for a family of four. Between the two sit the leisure components of the pool and … Read more
I just finished reading Building an Earthbag Round House by Morgan Caraway of the Sustainable Life School. This PDF ebook describes Morgan’s experience of building his first attempt at earthbag construction some 15 years ago. As he says, there are many ways he would do things differently these days, but he basically got most of … Read more
My friend B Sitkin recently uploaded this video he and his wife made many years ago at City of the Sun in Southern New Mexico. It documents many of the key events at the Build-a-thon and Symposium and features a number of my friends and fellow builders from that time. This event followed on the … Read more
From the sky, the Netherlands’ Ecovillage Boekel looks like a flower house. It is an almost self-sufficient housing community that was voted the most sustainable organization in the Netherlands in 2021. This project offers concrete solutions for social, economic, and cultural regeneration. The Ecovillage is made up of 36 pioneering sustainable flats where 48 adults … Read more