Passive Houses Use 90% Less Energy – Really?

Here’s a great article by Gayle Fleming, an environmentalist and green real estate advisor at EcoGayle’s Blog. She’s EcoBroker certified and a NAR Green designated real estate agent in the Washington DC metro area. The following text is quoted from her blog. “Yes, really. You think the oil, coal, natural gas and HVAC companies want … Read more

Another Earthbag Bench

Here’s our third earthbag bench. I love these small projects. They’re so simple and practical. This one was made almost entirely with surplus materials: a few extra bags filled with gravel, cement plaster and scrap tile. It was built during the construction of our earthbag roundhouse so all the tools, materials, etc. were all in … Read more

2012: Time for Change

I just found this video by Daniel Pinchbeck and was pleasantly surprised to see earthbag building being demonstrated. It’s just a small segment in the film, but still it’s good to see the word getting out. Text below is their description of the film. “Storyline: 2012: Time For Change is a documentary feature that presents … Read more

Rice Hull/Clay Blocks and Earthbags

We’re experimenting with rice hulls and clay to make lightweight building blocks. We’re using 25% rice hulls on our first test block. This is our first test block with a rice hull/clay mixture. This is not the most efficient way to mix it, of course, but we’re just doing small samples. Normally you’d use a … Read more

Condensation Problems in Cold Climates

Kelly Hart and I have been following the The Year of Mud cob house blog for about 2-3 years. Ziggy, the builder and author of the blog, learned the hard way that cob (actually, earth building in general) is not a good choice in cold climates. Kelly has been warning people for years at GreenHomeBuilding.com … Read more

Earth Sheltered, Solar Powered & Heated Home

The following text and video is from Daniel Geery’s article at OpEdNews. I can really relate to what this guy is saying about sustainable housing. Most of the technology was well known decades ago, as you can see in his video below. His house shows just how simple living off grid can be. “My family … Read more