“Work on the third straw bale home at the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center began on Monday last week and was nearly complete by Friday. Gathering materials for the building began a little earlier. Constructed mostly from locally available resources, straw bale homes are regionally very appropriate for Pine Ridge.”
The 450 square foot roundhouse includes a 4 foot high earthbag foundation to protect against flooding.
Source: TreesWaterPeople
Great picture, do you know where I can get palns so I can make my own home like this.
They’re still developing their design and don’t have plans yet. But if you have some basic carpentry skills (or spend some time reading carpentry books from the library) and read our blogs, you could build a simple roundhouse without detailed plans.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-an-Earthbag-Roundhouse/
Hello Owen,
I have seen Henry’s building method up close and while there is room for improvement, his structures feel solid and look great! I agree with the gravel stem wall assessment! Henry is a beacon for Pine Ridge and the Lakota people!
I helped Henry on his first strawbale roundhouse — the one that got flooded. Is that the same guy? It sounds like they’ve been making lots of progress on solar panels, a greenhouse and strawbale designs. When I visited about 10 years ago, they were making huge progress on wind generators. In fact, I think I’ll do a blog post that recaps what they were talking about. Basically, they’re saying parts of the northern US is considered as the “Saudi Arabia of wind energy” and some of the best areas are on Indian lands. (It’s funny how karma works, isn’t it? Native Americans got pushed onto the ‘worst’ wasteland imaginable and it turns out to be loaded with valuable resources.) The main hurdle to developing this energy isn’t technology. The main problem is a lack of trust between the tribes and those who have the big bucks to finance the projects.
yes the wind there is non-stop!! Henry Red Cloud owns and runs Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, its a lovely place and he is a great source for sustainable practices on the Rez, true about the vastness of resources on tribal lands but now that the US is aware of this they are steadily trying to take more land from them.
I’m not sure of their construction details. This house would benefit from gravel bags on lower courses, wider roof overhangs, stronger bond beam, lots of roof insulation and roofwater collection.