“Hello Owen, we’ve listed some more natural building workshops at Bottom Leaf Intentional Community. Next will be a bottle wall then an earth plastering workshop. Our last in this series will be building an earthen floor but we haven’t listed that one yet.
affordable
Low Cost Bamboo Truss System
Most of our readers know the world’s forests are being rapidly depleted. Sustainable alternatives are desperately needed. Low cost bamboo is a promising alternative building material because it’s rapidly renewable and widely available. Bamboo is especially well suited for Nepal that is in dire need of scalable solutions that can help rebuild the country. Ms. Neelima Basnet, a Nepali freelance architect, helped implement Joao Boto Caeiro’s bamboo truss method in Chapagaun near Kathmandu. Now there are 22 finished houses.
Grassroots Movement Building Earthbag Schools in Nepal
In collaboration with Good Earth Nepal.org and donations from the Schoeck Family Foundation, we’ve been touring earthbag projects near Kathmandu. We’ve seen numerous earthbag schools in our travels, but haven’t noticed any new conventionally built RCC/brick schools.
DIY Walk-in Cooler
I’ve been emailing someone about the benefits of making your own walk-in refrigerator/cooler using factory made mechanicals. She said, “I really never did understand why people would spend thousands on refrigerators when the walk ins are so much better. Most high end refrigerators are nothing more than some styrofoam and plastic wrapped in some visually appealing finish. Since I’ll be growing most of my own food, I’ll need the extra space.”
Earth-cooled, shipping container underground CA home for 30K
“As a kid Steve Rees played in caves and learned how the earth could cool. As an adult, he buried two shipping containers and created an off-grid retirement home for himself and his wife Shirley.
Garage turned into a TINY HOUSE- “The Rustic Modern” in Portland, OR
“Derek “Deek” Diedricksen (author of “Microshelters” and “Humble Homes, Simple Shacks”) tours a tiny house (converted from a garage) in Portland, OR. This airbnb rental house has full stairs to its loft, a great little kitchen, bathroom, and more- as you’ll see in this tiny house tour. This particular house is also featured in Deek’s “Microshelters” book on small homes, cabins, tree houses, and backyard offices.”