This video shows step by step directions for building a gothic shaped or bowed roof greenhouse with laminated wood like the UM passive solar greenhouse that we reported on the other day. This model supposedly meets Florida’s 160 mph wind code, and can easily be built by most do-it-yourselfers.
low cost
Greenhouse Homemade with Cattle Panels
It would be easy to strengthen this greenhouse design with rebar. The same basic idea could be used to build low cost ferrocement housing, shop space, etc. by adding rebar, small mesh and cement plaster.
Alejandro Aravena: Bring the community into the design process
“When asked to build housing for 100 families in Chile ten years ago, architect Alejandro Aravena looked to an unusual inspiration: the wisdom of favelas and slums. Rather than building a large building with small units, he built flexible half-homes that each family could expand on. It was a complex problem, but with a simple solution — one that he arrived at by working with the families themselves. With a chalkboard and beautiful images of his designs, Aravena walks us through three projects where clever rethinking led to beautiful design with great benefit.”
Bio-Bturner-100: Burning Spoiled Corn and Other Waste Products
The Bio-Burner by LEI Products burns a wide variety of biomass fuels for heating your home, shop or garage with the BB-100 (100k BTU burner/boiler). Their videos show how you can burn low value biomass materials such as manure, spoiled corn, spoiled animal feed, hammermill residues, wood chips, grass pellets, chopped switch grass, wood pellets, chopped corn cobs, beans, walnut shells, sawdust, sunflower meal, stover pellets (compressed plant stalks), animal bedding and more. If you live in an agricultural area it seems like you could probably find some waste stream biomass materials that would work. You’re not restricted to store bought pellets.
Wood Chip Radiant Heating
“Home Remodel for off grid home power system continued. Boiler reconfigured with water recirculation pump, heat exchanger improved, boiler power now at 60kW or 200k BTU/Hr. Wood chip feed fully automated with manual flame power control (chip delivery speed). Keeping home warm with night T in 20’s (F). Heats home in ~2 hours, good for 24. Next goal, 2000 Gal hot reservoir and home on thermostat.”
Compressed Earth Block Wall Build – Dwell Earth
“Training for an old style of compressed earth block. Dwell Earth traveled to South Africa to train locals techniques in the production of compressed earth blocks using the Dynabloc LM 714 machine.