Amid the challenging times brought about by the Covid pandemic, Basanta Shrestha and his wife undertook a unique journey to build their dream house. “Building our house during the pandemic was a transformative experience. Our decision to use rammed earth and repurposed materials was a conscious effort to harmonize with nature and reduce our impact … Read more
If you go to strawbale.com you can download a free subscription to “16 Essential Steps to Straw Bale Success” e-course. For over two weeks you’ll receive a daily and information-packed lesson about straw bale construction in your inbox. Over 50,000 people have read it so far! Everything from Design, Choosing Best Bales, Creating Custom Bales, Creating Niches, Prep … Read more
Built in 1980, this 1,731 square foot, three-bedroom home was originally designed by architect Don Metz, who designed several earth-sheltered homes in the Lyme, New Hampshire area. The owners added solar power and heat pumps, making the home come into its full potential, with limited use of fossil fuels. The home has passive solar heat … Read more
According to the architect the refuge for Hodei Studio is the first in a network of shelters to be established in a protected area of olive groves in Tarragona, Spain. They used several camouflaging strategies for the refuge. The walls are a mixture of lime, water, and earth, while the openings are covered with metal … Read more
I just finished reading Building an Earthbag Round House by Morgan Caraway of the Sustainable Life School. This PDF ebook describes Morgan’s experience of building his first attempt at earthbag construction some 15 years ago. As he says, there are many ways he would do things differently these days, but he basically got most of … Read more
For the last couple of years I have been working on creating what I call a “sculpted tiny home” out in my yard in New Mexico. This is the second such home I have created since I decided to devote my time to this pursuit. The first one I called Full Circle for several reasons: … Read more