Houses in the Mindfulness Project, a planned sustainable community in Thailand, are grouped in clusters of five with a bamboo gazebo in the center and two Solar Vaults (1. mechanical room, shop; 2. toilets, showers, laundry) in the nearest clearing. This cluster shows Insulated Earthbag Domes. Some clusters will have Domed Roundhouses (an exciting new … Read more
Adapted from email exchanges with Sumano: People will likely use the gazebo daily for baking bread together, overseeing children, picnics and other informal gatherings. Once people let go of TVs, video games, and other wasteful things then it’s only natural that they’ll want to spend more time with other people. The gazebo has a pentagonal … Read more
Special thanks to Eugene in Russia for the heads up on this great find. This earth building book by Gernot Minke’s is one of the most informative books on the subject, and now it’s available as a free download. How can you beat that? Thank you Gernot Minke for all you’ve done in support of … Read more
Owen, The sustainable expo was a great success! There were over 700 visitors to the expo and our booth was the second most demanded subject at the expo. The great thing is that we were the only renewable energies booth at the whole expo, so needless to say there was always a line up of … Read more
This blog post provides additional information about the insulated earthbag vaults that I’ve been discussing the last few weeks. (Use the search engine in the upper right corner and enter “insulated earthbag vaults” to read prior posts.) As explained from the very beginning “We get quite a few enquires about vaults. So far we’ve always … Read more
These earthen beehive houses have been keeping Syrians naturally cool for centuries. Built of all natural local materials, the thick walls help naturally cool the interior by keeping out the sun, and acting as a thick insulation for the heat to permeate. The walls are made from mud bricks, stacked in a giant circle. Building … Read more