Low impact living is at the heart of what I’ve been doing for years. It’s what drives me and the content of my blogs, articles, books and house plans. Low impact living encompasses much more than just housing, although dirt cheap DIY housing paid with cash is a big part of the solution. Low impact … Read more
Houses in the Mindfulness Project, a planned sustainable community in Thailand, are grouped in clusters of five with a bamboo gazebo in the center and two Solar Vaults (1. mechanical room, shop; 2. toilets, showers, laundry) in the nearest clearing. This cluster shows Insulated Earthbag Domes. Some clusters will have Domed Roundhouses (an exciting new … Read more
Living Building Challenge is a philosophy, advocacy tool and certification program that addresses development at all scales. It is comprised of seven performance areas: Site, Water, Energy, Health, Materials, Equity and Beauty. These are subdivided into a total of twenty Imperatives, each of which focuses on a specific sphere of influence. The purpose of the … Read more
Ronin’s CORGANIX shipping container/earthbag hybrid design is gaining a lot of traction. His post yesterday at Renaissance Ronin Blog triggered 33 emails and mirrored content on about 30 sites. This is a new approach for earthbaggers that’s well worth considering. In this case, Ronin is selling the ISBUs with a pre-finished kitchen and bath. He … Read more
The shift toward sustainability in general, and low cost, DIY housing specifically, is the way forward. The trend is unmistakable as I explained in a previous post The Shift Toward Organic Architecture. Plain and simple, people are fed up with the current way of doing things. Why would someone take out a 30-year mortgage (assuming … Read more
Thumb through popular architecture sources and you’ll readily spot a growing trend toward curved and round designs. It’s a revolt against the box. Oh sure, the status quo suburban box is alive and well, and will likely endure as long as the existing building codes, insurance and financial institutions remain in place. But there’s a … Read more