Solar water heaters vary in design, efficiency, capacity and price, but they all replace a good chunk of the gas or electricity used to heat water with clean, free sunlight. The three basic designs all have a way to collect heat, a tank to store hot water, backup heating for when your system can’t keep … Read more
inhabitat.com presented a collection of eight small “earth homes that almost anyone can afford” and half of them are built with earthbags! La Casa Vergara’s dome shape may captivate the eye, but what’s underneath is most impressive. The Bogota home, built by architect Jose Andres Vallejo, is made from earthbags, or tubular bags stuffed with … Read more
Marc Berman at programminginsider.com has come up with a list of aspects of ecological home design that I think is worth sharing. Selecting the right site is the first step in the design process. Orientation: Take advantage of the sun’s path by orienting your home to maximize natural light and passive solar heating. Position windows … Read more
www.motherearthnews.com interviewed Sigi Koko for a podcast that you can hear at that link. Below are some of her comments: I have a graduate degree in architecture and I then had worked for a construction company doing just conventional housing construction to get some experience building so that I could talk to builders better and … Read more
London-based New Makers Bureau has built a new Kampala art center in Uganda from materials excavated from the site itself – earth, wood and reclaimed brick. “We took cues from the idea of archaeology and excavation, literally mining the site for material,” says founding director James Hampton. New Makers Bureau collaborated with Localworks on the … Read more
Xialapu Village is responding to the Chinese national poverty alleviation and relocation policy. The pattern of the new village has changed from random growth to a deliberately planned fan-shaped belt layout. The local government wanted to build an amalgamated dwelling to improve and solve the housing needs of the lonely elderly people in the village. … Read more