“Blue Moon Rising (BMR) on Deep Creek Lake will be what we believe to be the area’s most innovative development to date. In partnership with Mother Nature, an #ecotourism retreat like no other is being created in the heart of Garrett County in Western Maryland. Using the landscape as a guide, natural structures that boast an ecologically tiny impact will be blended harmoniously with the wooded mountainside, overlooking Deep Creek Lake.
“The artist couple Pratibha and Sanjay Singh have a nice earth based ecological home along with a studio for Sanjay as part of the home. The whole house is of earth excavated from the site. There is no plastering or painting for the building. The house is naturally lit and naturally ventilated with no fan or air conditioning. Sanjay is an avid gardener and we josh about his North Indian garden. Harvested rain supplies the garden water and adds to the house hold use. Grey water from the kitchen is reused for the garden.
“Touching the Earth Lightly (TEL) is a call to action…that combines people, design and conservation. It expresses a relationship between humans and the earth based on custodianship, sensitivity and respect, that results in developments that have the least possible impact (both visually and physically) on the natural & cultural landscape, and that reflect both internally and externally, the “sense of place” evoked by the intrinsic qualities of the landscape.
Yesterday’s blog post was about Steve’s unpermitted straw bale house in Scotland. This is the new straw bale house he is building that includes an amazing (first ever?) double reciprocal roof.
Natural builders strive to reduce their use of cement due to high cost and adverse environmental impacts. Sustainability conscious natural builders might use ferrocement, cement plaster or micro concrete roofing tiles which use relatively small amounts of cement, and avoid more concrete intensive materials such as concrete block. Foamed lightweight concrete is another material that could be added to the list of green building materials.
Thanks to Richard F. for suggesting this site. It’s a page of fun Norwegian Houses in Thai language. This site shows how natural building methods are spreading around the world. The focus here seems to be on living roofs/green roofs.