Designing an Eco-Friendly Home

Marc Berman at  programminginsider.com has come up with a list of aspects of ecological home design that I think is worth sharing. Selecting the right site is the first step in the design process. Orientation: Take advantage of the sun’s path by orienting your home to maximize natural light and passive solar heating. Position windows … Read more

An Interview with Sigi Koko

www.motherearthnews.com interviewed Sigi Koko for a podcast that you can hear at that link. Below are some of her comments: I have a graduate degree in architecture and I then had worked for a construction company doing just conventional housing construction to get some experience building so that I could talk to builders better and … Read more

Free Access to SEI’s Library of Webinars

You can now gain free access to Solar Energy International’s past webinars! Their online library offers an array of webinars gathered from previous events, containing years worth of resources that are both informative and actionable. Training includes technical topics, business and marketing resources, workforce development discussions, women in solar insight, and more. Technical Training topics: … Read more

The Popularity of Earthships

Michael Reynolds, the 77-year-old architect and founder of Biotecture Enterprise has been experimenting near Taos, New Mexico for more than 50 years with constructing Earthships, self-sufficient off-grid houses that harvest their own electricity, water and heat. “We build according to six principles,” Reynolds sums up his philosophy. “Passive thermal heating and cooling, power from the … Read more

From Ruin to Regenerative Homestead

After purchasing a ruin in a hilltop hamlet in the Spanish Pyrenees, Emmanuel Pauwels created a home in close harmony with the elements by first spending an entire year observing the patterns of the wind, sun, and rain. Today, the sun provides for passive heating of the home via south-facing windows, but also an antechamber … Read more

Living Off Grid in an Earthship-Style Home in Colorado

Kristina is a structural engineer who designed and helped build this off-grid passive solar home with solar panels, solar hot water heaters, rainwater collection, a composting toilet, and a greywater garden. It’s a pretty impressive and functional Earthship inspired home and she lives here with her partner Matt in Colorado. You can follow and find … Read more