“A friends hand built ferro cement dome house complete with roof top hot tub, heated by an internal pizza oven. Located well off the beaten track in the Far North of New Zealand.”
natural building
Free Economizer PDF Plans Now Available
Complete plans now available as a downloadable PDF. This PDF was actually finished about six months ago but somehow never got uploaded to our Free Plans page. Dozens of people wrote for the free plans. I mistakenly sent them to the preview page, which doesn’t have all the plans. Plus, the preview page had my old email address. (My new address is at the top of the page under About Us.) Sorry for the mix-up.
Video: Canadian Earthbag House
Here’s one of the bigger houses built using the earthbag method.
Konbit Shelter Houses
“In the summer of 2010, Konbit Shelter partnered with the Mango Grower’s Association of Leogane, in the village of Bigones, Barrier Jeudi, to create a multi room community center. We returned in December to construct a one family house. By sourcing all materials within Haiti, and raising money to hire a crew of builders from the community, we are able to bring the kind of assistance that promotes the local economy, creates jobs, and builds valuable skill sets.
Creating a Ferrocement Boat
Creating a ferro cement boat from EMAS on Vimeo.
Another great project by Wolfgang Buchner of EMAS in Bolivia, the inventor of the EMAS pump. I want one of these! This ferrocement boat could be built for around $50, depending on where you live. (Adjust for costs in your area.) Try finding a sturdy boat for that price. And it’s so simple to do! Once you’ve mastered the basic steps, you could build many other types of boats. What about a houseboat made one section at a time? This would be a great cottage industry product for certain areas.
Early US Building Codes
The discussion about Obomba’s new housing program gave me an idea. I was making the point how government programs are initially proposed to sound wonderful so people go along with them, but over time tend to grow and grow until burdensome.