DAVID: Your adventure in “Twelve by Twelve” is part of a long tradition of restless Americans. In early America, Francis Asbury never even owned a home and traveled throughout his adult life, staying in other people’s homes. John Steinbeck traveled in a pickup truck equipped with a little camper. Thoreau famously lived in a tiny … Read more
The rate of speed of earthbag wall building will naturally vary from project to project, depending on the number, strength and skill of workers, complexity of design, how far materials have to be moved, etc. But let’s examine the Somos Children’s Village since Cecilia Rodriguez, architectural intern and project manager, has measured their production rate. … Read more
The Nubian vault is an African technique for the construction of timberless vaulted roofs. The AVN (Association la Voute Nubienne), through its Program ’Earth roofs in the Sahel’, helps provide families in sub-Saharan Africa with comfortable, sustainable, affordable, homes. In a recent Newsletter from this organization, I was impressed by the statistics they provided regarding … Read more
I found a very good greenhouse design by Bill Mollison (co-developer of Permaculture) in this video called Intro to Permaculture 12 – The Industrial Egg vs The Permaculture Egg. This video is a part of Midwest Permaculture’s Free Internet Webinar Series. It is one of eighteen segments from the first webinar of the Foundations of … Read more
Here’s another awesome sustainable community under development. “SPICE: WHAT IS IT? A VISION—Creating an intentional community Ø A small, planned community that encourages reduced consumption and materialism and emphasizes our role as caretakers of the natural environment; Ø Respect for individual talents, interests, privacy, and needs, including the need for interaction with others; Ø Use … Read more
From time to time we’ll profile a sustainable community or ecovillage. The one presented today is not made with earthbags, because bags were not available in their area. Nevertheless, the project is still very interesting and well worth studying. I think the world needs many more projects like this. “My dream is of a small … Read more