Affordable Eco-homes Report

This just in from Kelly Hart: “Dr.Jenny Pickerill recently traveled around the world on a Winston Churchill Trust Travelling Fellowship on a quest for information and insights on how folks in England (where she teaches at the University of Leicester) might better address needs for sustainable housing. One of her stops was in the rural … Read more

Passive Houses in the New York Times

Gayle Fleming at EcoGayle’s Blog recommended an article in the New York Times that addresses the effectiveness of passive homes: Can We Build in a Brighter Shade of Green? The New York Times article chronicles the experiences of Barbara and Steven Landau, who are building a 2,000 sq. ft. house to the passive-house standard in … Read more

Passive Houses Use 90% Less Energy – Really?

Here’s a great article by Gayle Fleming, an environmentalist and green real estate advisor at EcoGayle’s Blog. She’s EcoBroker certified and a NAR Green designated real estate agent in the Washington DC metro area. The following text is quoted from her blog. “Yes, really. You think the oil, coal, natural gas and HVAC companies want … Read more

2012: Time for Change

I just found this video by Daniel Pinchbeck and was pleasantly surprised to see earthbag building being demonstrated. It’s just a small segment in the film, but still it’s good to see the word getting out. Text below is their description of the film. “Storyline: 2012: Time For Change is a documentary feature that presents … Read more

Condensation Problems in Cold Climates

Kelly Hart and I have been following the The Year of Mud cob house blog for about 2-3 years. Ziggy, the builder and author of the blog, learned the hard way that cob (actually, earth building in general) is not a good choice in cold climates. Kelly has been warning people for years at GreenHomeBuilding.com … Read more

More Earthbag Houses in Pakistan

Today’s post is from a group in Pakistan who’s building flood resistant houses. “Sir, the size of the structure is 20 feet by 12 feet. We have given a buttress on the back wall. We dug an 18 inch trench and put gravel till 6 inches. After doing so we tampered the gravel so that … Read more