In homage to our previous post on all natural building products, here is a photo collection of earthbag buildings – built from bags of dirt or sand, stacked brick-like, and covered with mud mixed with straw. Divine Nectar retreat cabin – This stunning earthbag cabin was built as part of a retreat center in the desert…
Tag Archives: green homes
24
Apr
Apr
Will the buildings of the future be printed? Chinese construction materials company Winsun New Materials says it has printed 10 houses on its new 3-D printer that cost them about $3.2 million to develop and took 12 years to build. Winsun’s 3D printer is 6.6 meters (22 feet) tall, 10 meters wide and 150 meters…
30
Sep
Sep
The Story of Eagleyew: A High Efficiency Natural Building on Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada I’m pleased to say that I have been building Natural Buildings for a number of years now. My work has taken me up and down the West coast of North America, with a focus in the Pacific Northwest. I’ve been calling…
Architecture in origami form is a remarkable concept which is hard to envision but D*Haus has come up with a house design that follows the very dynamics of the paper folding art. D*Haus’ transformation house, D*Dynamic, has yet to be built but the conception is likely to take hold. They have designed furniture, such as…
25
Jul
Jul
New research is being conducted on more energy sustainable residential combined heat and power systems (resCHP). The research is being conducted by Pike Research which joined Navigant’s global Energy Practices on July 1, 2012 which provides in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. The systems are small generation systems that produce electricity for residences while also capturing heat that would normally go to waste.
DAtE is a global architectural competition meant to find solutions to the problems occurring due to climate change. “Climate change refers to the variation in the Earth’s global climate or regional climates over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. Changes may be driven by internal processes, external forces or, most recently, by human activities.” This is the third competition of its kind all originating in the Philippines with the winner being announced in early 2011.
A house built by Morris Partnership in rural Australia is a natural retreat with minimal impact on the environment and wildlife surrounding it. The house is known as the Hinterland House, for the region it was designed to be a part of.
22
Apr
Apr
Custom homebuilder Clark Johnson, founder of Apex Mountain Homes in Silverthorne, Colorado, is living in one of his very own sustainable creations. Johnson’s states his NET ZERO home is one of the most energy efficient homes in the country, producing more energy than it consumes.
19
Apr
Apr
Inspired by requests from architects around the world, Alcoa scientists in Merxheim, France, developed the Reynobond Design Line, a collection of Colorweld DL paint finishes so realistic that they’re almost indistinguishable from real granite, wood, travertine and terra cotta.
13
Apr
Apr
Intematix released their expansion to their existing ChromaLit Lighting Collection which expected to launch this week. Their expansion was in response to their clients’ reception of the original ChromaLit Collection launched in January of this year and their demand for more high performance LED lighting design options.
12
Mar
Mar
In the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the people of New Orleans were desperately looking for answers to their usable housing shortage. The now infamous FEMA trailers were brought in to provide residents semi-permanent housing. At $70,000 a piece, it quickly became clear that the trailers would just be too expensive. 170 participants,…
26
Feb
Feb
Efficiency as a home builder is just as important as efficiency for the home owner. Miranda Homes knows how important this is and is changing the construction industry by changing their ways making more sustainable options available to the public.
14
Feb
Feb
The Oliver neighborhood in East Baltimore is full of vacant houses and run down buildings. That is why One Green Home at a Time Foundation stepped in to rehab the houses with a green touch. The nonprofit organization was started only 15 months ago, funded by Bridge Private Lending. Their aim is to purchase and…
02
Feb
Feb
The tire wall construction has progressed from earthship and tire-bales are now being used.
14
Jan
Jan
Several projects were honored at Greenbuild in November, including a LEED Platinum house built for under $100 per square foot, an affordable housing project named after General Colin Powell, and the most prolific LEED for Homes provider in the nation.
12
Jan
Jan
Modular homes or pre-manufactured kits (see left photo: Shelter-Kit barn and pool) may be appealing because of lower costs and the speed with which the final product can be assembled, but what differences do they have when it comes to measuring how green a home might be.
05
Nov
Nov
Passivhaus is a type of design for homes that are super efficient. It was started in Germany in 1996 by physicist Dr. Wolfgang Feist. He developed the design based on superinsulated homes built in the United States and Canada during the 1970s. There are five basic elements in a Passivhaus design: High levels of insulation Reduce thermal…
20
Sep
Sep
Houses slated for demolition enjoy a new lease on life. Builders of Hope relocates houses, improves their energy efficiency, and sells them to working families at cost.