Guide to Solar Water Heater Systems

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www.ecowatch.com has published a Guide to Solar Water Heater Systems that is quite informative. Solar hot water heaters are split into two broad categories: passive and active. Active systems require circulating pumps and passive systems rely on gravity to move water. So active systems require electricity and may use antifreeze to exchange the heat to … Read more

Extraordinary Native American Engineering Feats

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The Native Americans who occupied the area known as Poverty Point in northern Louisiana more than 3,000 years ago long were highly skilled engineers capable of building massive earthen structures that have withstood the test of time. It has been believed that they were simple hunters and gatherers, but new  archaeological findings paint a very … Read more

Models for Providing Affordable, Ecological Housing

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New approaches to home-building are emerging in response to the multiple crises of climate change, unaffordable housing, deprivation and exclusion. Models for housing vary enormously, from self-build, to socially provided housing and speculative, private markets. But the failure of rent-based models to provide homes that people can afford, especially in big cities and larger towns, … Read more

Colorado’s Wonder Haus

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A Colorado Airbnb  known as Wonder Haus seems to enchant all who visit. The owners, Adrian and Jeff Young, dreamed of creating an off-the-grid “mountain haven” with an arched glass-sided structure to feel immersed with the outdoors. First they bought an existing passive solar earth house that was built to satisfy the former owner’s love … Read more

Houses in Trees

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If you go to www.messynessychic.com you will find a delightful array of archived photos of various kinds of shelter carved out of tree trunks, mostly from the giant sequoia found on the west coast of the U.S. There are also some descriptions of who created them and how they were used.