This post continues the discussion about Counties with Few or No Building Codes, which has become our number one most popular blog post. Obviously this is something a lot of people want to know more about. As mentioned before, one approach to building alternative housing is to buy rural property with an existing structure, septic, … Read more
Here’s Patti Stouter’s report on her earthbag shear test. The quick way to find out how to build strong enough for earthquakes? Hundreds of thousands of dollars for earthbag testing to university engineering departments. I’m helping one US university seeking grants just for earthbag, and I’m looking myself as well. Email me at simple_earth@yahoo.com to … Read more
I got the following email a few minutes ago. Luke just won himself a free copy of my upcoming Earthbag Building Video. Thanks, Luke! “With great pleasure, I just wanted to let you know a Facebook page has been created for fans of your blog. The name of the page is, “Earthbag Building Blog Fan … Read more
Acmeville Tract Homes: 2,500 sq. ft., 4 bedroom, 3 bath, $250,000 ($2,000/month for 30 years, 20% down, plus insurance, title and closing fees, taxes, cookie cutter fee, and homeowner association fee). Your choice of three shades of beige and pastel vinyl siding. Hitherwood Hills Ecovillage: your choice of 100 homes (30 unique designs by Owen … Read more
Gabriel Raia Carneiro, a realtor, green builder, eco-designer, and permaculture specialist, working as a consultant in Brazil, has been kind enough to allow us to feature this ecological house he built there. I have constructed a project page based on information and photos provided by him. All of the text was originally Portuguese, so it … Read more
In addition to my house design work (which is really taking off, by the way), I’ve had several requests to design sustainable communities. So far these large projects haven’t fully materialized, but the opportunities I’ve been presented with have given me a chance to think through some possibilities. The ideas outlined below are somewhat unconventional, … Read more