One of the biggest concerns for natural builders is finding affordable land for their homestead or sustainable home. Rural land is often the best solution not only because it’s less expensive than urban land, but also because there are usually fewer building codes. With few or no building codes, it’s possible to build at 1/10th the cost of building in cities if you use recycled materials like pallets and barn wood, and local natural materials such as earth, stone and wood poles.
low cost
Where to Live While Building a House: Living off the Grid
Natural builders have to figure out where to live while their sustainable home is under construction. This may mean dealing with some less than ideal choices.
Micro Earthbag Homes
Email from one of our readers: “Hello, I have been researching your methods and website for sometime now. I first was introduced through your YouTube video building an earthbag home for $300. I was wondering if you could give me some advice on how to build that micro home using your method. I would deeply appreciate your advice so I can build a place for me and my family.”
Solar Coffin Air Heater
“I visited a friend’s house with a unique take on solar air heating. He coins his invention the Solar Coffin. This device heats air up to well over 100 degrees C within the “coffin” unit. The air is then moved under the slab of his house which stores the solar energy for release during the winter. This system is based on a system called annualized geo-solar developed in the US as a strategy to get off the heating grid.”
Rebuild Namkheli, Nepal – 6 Earthbag Houses Completed
“25th April 2015 is my 2nd birthday”, said Ang Furba Sherpa, our partner from Be Human Nepal. And it is so true for many Nepalese who had experienced the devastating earthquake which tore Nepal apart exactly year ago. The homes of our students at Manjushree Singa Primary School in Namkheli village were also not spared.
Support Malawi Earthbag Projects
“Thank you Owen for this great development. Together with the Roscher Youth Development Centre in Rumphi, Malawi, I built a wonderful prototype of sandbag house last year, which now is impressing and convincing everyone about construction with earthbags (http://supportmalawi.org/en/projects/58-sandbaghouse). Aaand we now almost finished a first house for a teacher’s family.