“An autonomous building is a building designed to be operated independently from infrastructural support services such as the electric power grid, gas grid, municipal water systems, sewage treatment systems, storm drains, communication services, and in some cases, public roads. Advocates of autonomous building describe advantages that include reduced environmental impacts, increased security, and lower costs … Read more
Kelly sent me the following article about government and big industry plans for achieving energy efficiency in buildings. One goal is to achieve zero net energy by 2030. While I agree with the need to slash energy consumption and the overall goal of zero energy buildings, I have almost no confidence these type of plans … Read more
Every year we publish the most popular blog posts for the last 12 months. We’ll do that again in November on our 4th anniversary. Our goal here is to look at the most popular blog posts since we’ve started – the Best of the Bestest. Think of them as hidden gems unless you’ve read all … Read more
The ongoing economic recession is putting lots of people in difficult situations. For some, the situation may even seem hopeless. I’m writing this to remind everyone to never give up. Who knows for sure what’s in store in the future, but the main thing is to keep your head together and just keep on going. … Read more
Specifications: 314 sq. ft. interior, 181 sq. ft. interior loft, total = 495 sq. ft. interior, Footprint: 23’ diameter This blog post is a continuation of the discussion about disaster resistant domes. So far we’ve talked about Hemispheric Domes and key ideas about How to Build the Strongest Buildings That Can Last Centuries. Wiki describes … Read more
Let’s take a brief respite from castle plans, shall we? Our website traffic has hit another major spike and so I’ll take this opportunity to summarize some key facts about earthbag building. A few quick facts: – Successful completion of an earthbag/strawbale shake table test in Nevada applied forces that surpassed that of the Northridge … Read more