Help Support a Cob Building Code

I just got this email from Michael G. Smith, the expert on cob construction at www.greenhomebuilding.com : You may or may not know about the Cob Research Institute (CRI), a non-profit corporation founded in 2008 to remove legal barriers to cob construction. One of our goals has been to write a code for cob and to … Read more

HouseZero: a Remodeled 1920’s Home

A Harvard program to retrofit a campus building and create a living laboratory for energy-efficient architecture officially aims to develop techniques and technologies to make the built world more sustainable. The renovated building was designed by the school’s Center for Green Building and Cities with strict performance targets in mind: nearly zero energy for heating … Read more

A 3D Printed House for $4000?

There has been a lot of publicity about 3D printed housing lately, and it is not surprising because the notion seems almost unbelievable. What is not to like about being able to almost instantaneously  convert practically any plan into reality for very little money? This article from fastcompany.com describes such housing that is being developed for masses of poor people in El Salvador and other third world countries. They claim that this can be done for under $4000 per house!

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Earthbag Canteen Project in Kathmandu, Nepal

Earthbag Canteen Project in Kathmandu, Nepal now under construction by Good Earth Global.
Earthbag Canteen Project in Kathmandu, Nepal now under construction by Good Earth Global.

Yesterday we got a comment by an earthbag builder who was harassed and given the ‘run-around’ by building code officials while building his earthbag home. Here’s part of my response to what Phil had to endure.

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Shed Conversion to Single Family Dwelling // Building Codes


We went to the Building Code office today. Danny talks about the shed conversion to a single family dwelling and what the building codes are for Stone County, MS. These may not be the same as codes in your county.

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