One of the biggest concerns for natural builders is finding affordable land for their homestead or sustainable home. Rural land is often the best solution not only because it’s less expensive than urban land, but also because there are usually fewer building codes. With few or no building codes, it’s possible to build at 1/10th the cost of building in cities if you use recycled materials like pallets and barn wood, and local natural materials such as earth, stone and wood poles.
General
Where to Live While Building a House: Living off the Grid
Natural builders have to figure out where to live while their sustainable home is under construction. This may mean dealing with some less than ideal choices.
Living on a 4 Season Tiny Houseboat
“In this video, we meet Bonnie from Wakefield, Québec, Canada who is living on a gorgeous tiny house boat that is full of character and charm. The tiny houseboat has custom-made asymmetrical windows, a classic ship’s wheel, antique fireplace, and hand-built furniture — all of which give the boat a warm and cozy feel that makes you feel at home as soon as you step on board. The boat is docked on the shore of the Gatineau River and Bonnie lives in it as often as she can when she’s not renting it out on Airbnb.”
Micro Apartment Designs
Here’s a fresh topic that I haven’t seen covered before. Some of these micro apartments look very good. Some designs would work well for small homes. “Many established North American (U.S. and Canada) developers have recently unveiled their intentions to bring the smallest suites to the market. And when we talk about the smallest suites we are talking about condos no larger 290 sq. ft. Let’s see in this video several most tiny apartments.”
Permaculture, homesteading, and compost-powered heating in the Vermont hills
“Ben Falk is a permaculture designer based in Moretown, Vermont. In this video, he speaks about different aspects of homesteading and cold weather, notably his wood cook-stove which also heats water, and his compost-powered greenhouse heating system. He also talks about the importance of being engaged with the land around us, and how gardening is just basically awesome!”
Lloyd Kahn’s Small Homes Book under Production
I just saw on Lloyd Kahn’s blog that he’s working on a new book. His other Shelter Publications are excellent. Lloyd Kahn is the editor-in-chief of Shelter Publications, an independent California publisher. Shelter Publications specializes in books on building and architecture, as well as health and fitness. Lloyd’s latest book is Tiny Homes on the Move: Wheels and Water. For more info, see: www.shelterpub.com