Family tests Rotterdam self-sufficient home within greenhouse


When Helly Scholten was offered the opportunity to spend three years living in a home inside of a greenhouse on Rotterdam’s docklands, she immediately volunteered her family. Scholten, her partner and two teen daughters moved into the experimental home and immediately began planting the four greenhouses surrounding and atop the home in an attempt to grow enough food to feed their family.

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Simple Passive Solar Strawbale Home in Crestone

Many readers ask about simple designs that are suitable for unskilled workers who are working alone on a tight budget. This blog post describes an interesting project in Crestone, CO that illustrates some useful concepts.

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Passivhaus rooftop flat adds level to 1930’s Mexico City home


Alejandro Herrera was commuting two hours each way into Mexico City for architecture school when he turned a vacant rooftop into a tiny home in the city center. In the heart of the very desirable Roma Norte district his new home measured just 42 square meters (450 square feet), but it opened to a garden terrace of the same size.

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Underground dome house stays warm in Omaha winters


Rebecca Weitzel and Jeff Waschkowski live in a buried home in Omaha, Nebraska and while winters temperatures can hit negative 30 degrees (record lows), inside the home is affected by the temperature of the earth, not the air, and mostly fluctuates between 64 and 74°F.

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