“A subcontractor with Bad Goat Forest Products, Braverman was just hours away from finishing what many believe will be the first passive solar greenhouse in Missoula.
“The idea is, the sun will hit the earth bags all day long and during the night, they’ll radiate back the heat and maintain a more even temperature,” said Braverman. “They’re thinking they’ll be able to use this all winter.”
“In the spring of 2011, the construction of our new greenhouse began. This is not just a regular greenhouse. In an effort to maximise thermal mass, it is being built with environmental sustainability in mind by using earth.
“Harmony of human habitats with nature, the use of soil and solar energy enables us to build energy-efficient shelters, produce healthy food, process waste and meet the material and spiritual needs in a sustainable manner and in accordance to the local environment. Join us during the earth sheltered passive solar greenhouse building workshops and explore … Read more
I found a very good greenhouse design by Bill Mollison (co-developer of Permaculture) in this video called Intro to Permaculture 12 – The Industrial Egg vs The Permaculture Egg. This video is a part of Midwest Permaculture’s Free Internet Webinar Series. It is one of eighteen segments from the first webinar of the Foundations of … Read more
I see at least two main approaches to building a pit house with earthbags: 1. Mimic Mike Oehler’s greenhouse design using earthbags instead of poles and shoring. 2. Mimic conventional walipini pit greenhouses. That’s what I’ve chosen to do in the following drawing. It’s very similar to typical walipini’s, so follow the directions in the … Read more
Follow the adventure of building an earth-sheltered structure in Canada, six hours north of Winnipeg. In brief, they’re exploring how to optimize Mike Oehler’s earth sheltered concept using earthbags. Their greenhouse was a success (an amazing feat that far north), and now they want to build a larger structure. Their plans remind me of ancient … Read more