The Natural Homes Map shows you where to find natural homes of straw bale, cob, earthbag, green oak timber frame and others with links to the owner’s web site. The Natural Builders Map shows you where you can find a natural builder with a link to the builder’s web site. For each map, slide the map around with your mouse, zoom in and out using the slide bar. Click any of the icons to see more details. You can see the homes on the Natural Homes List too.
November 11, 2009By: greenbuilder Category: Design
The Institute of International and European Affairs are proposing a scheme which would upgrade the energy efficiency of more than a million Irish homes would create up to 32,000 building industry jobs and help drive economic recovery.
This is a great opportunity to first of all, recognise the errors of the past and put in place a scheme that would go a great deal towards rectifying poor building standards but utilise the great range of skills that have developed over previous years Read the rest of this entry →
There is no shortage of advice when designing your own home on how to heat the house. With a world energy crisis imminent it is makes sense to give how you heat and insulate your house prime consideration.
The first consideration should be what we do with heat that we have:
How do we prevent Heat Loss?
How do we get the best effect?
Most independent experts agree that decisions on prevention of heat loss far is more important than what system to put in place e.g. geothermal, heat recovery. See our previous blog post on Eco-Bling So when budgeting for your build, it might be more prudent to include an extra £/€/$ 1,000 for insulation rather spending extra on the top-of-the-range heating system.
Whatever system you use, make sure to incorporate it into the overall design package. You would be amazed at the number of people who have invested thousands on state-of-the-art heat recovery systems but yet insisted on the charm of an open fire. It just doesn’t work!
Heat recovery systems go hand-in-hand with passive house design.
On the other hand if your are opting for a more natural type build like myself it is worth considering an all natural approach.
Heating your home naturally
Our brief was for a house constructed with natural materials that would allow the structure to breathe but at the same time be warm in winter and not too warm in summer. We live in the countryside which gave us a greater range of options. We had access to a good supply of firewood. The firewood is sourced from the adjoining native woodland and consists of coppiced material. This means that every winter we coppice a section of the woodland. that is cut each tree back to it’s stump and allow the timber to dry until the following winter. In Spring each stump then puts out several new shoots. The coppice system therefore involves not only replacing each tree but actually multiplying the number of replacement trees.
Our house is constructed with Logs and is designed to maximise solar gain.
Log Houses are particularly suited to the use of masonry heating systems. These systems are very common in North America and Northern Europe. In fact in Finland courtesy of generous tax incentives 90% of new homes are heated with a masonry stove.
Background
Interestingly enough energy crises are not a new phenomenon. European Governments in the 15th century were coming to terms with centuries of depletion of their stocks of timber through deforestation Timber was used for building
Masonry Stove under construction
houses, ships, to fight wars and for fuel. The situation became so serious by the 17th and 18th centuries that craftsmen were ordered to develop fuel efficient stoves. These energy efficient stoves have survived over the centuries and their popularity is again growing in response to the newest energy crisis. In some countries the stoves are referred to as kachelofens
Principles
Masonry Stoves are remarkable in their simplicity. The are basically large structures of heat storage material, which when heated once a day will store the heat and radiate that heat for the remainder of the day. They use only a fraction of the amount of fuel required by ordinary stoves. The stove we have built is based on the Finnish design. A fire of dry firewood is lit once a day or less. The fire is encouraged to burn with a supply of air. As the fire becomes hotter, the air supply is reduced. The heat has to travel throughout the structure in order to escape and in doing so is stored in the structure. When the last ember has burned. The damper to the chimney is closed preventing any heat being lost. The stove remains warm for up to 36 hours afterwards
Benefits
Masonry Stove - View from oven side
Masonry heater work by radiating the heat stored in their mass slowly. Radiant heat is the same type of heat we get from the sun. As the sun warms the earth during daylight, so to does the radiant heat from a stove heat solid objects around, which in turn store and release warmth. By keeping room doors open the stove radiates heat to all rooms in the house.
Conventional heating systems tend to heat the air in room. Masonry stoves work exceptionally well with homes constructed with natural materials which in turn store the warmth from the stove.
The stove is excellent for cooking, particularly for slow-cooking where food can be prepared the night before and be ready piping hot for dinner time the next day.
Masonry Stoves may not be the solution to everyone’s energy requirements but they can have a huge role to play in design for the future. They are the predominant system for heating in countries such as Finland and yet are relatively unheard of in many countries.
As we look to the future it is always useful to learn what has worked well in the past
Today is the 14th of October, we are in the west coast of Ireland and our six metre square flat panel are reaching temperatures in to the high fifties (Celsius) supplying almost all of our small family needs. In fact our panels have supplied enough heat for most of September and October so far with the exception of just two or three days when we had to rely on our wood pellet boiler to meet the shortfall. That was possibly for just one half of an hour as it was required to just heat the already tepid water.
Now here’s the thing! If you live in Ireland then you know about Irish weather. If you don’t, please let me explain. In Ireland when you least expect to get fine weather you can have a glorious day like today. Unfortunately the converse is also even more true. Our summers can often feel more like winter at times, cold, wet and windy. This is something that the literature about solar panels from most suppliers doesn’t tell you.
Before we installed panels in 2006, there were very few panels already installed. All of a sudden courtesy of generous grants from Sustainable Energy Ireland, there were suppliers everywhere.
Most suppliers suggested that panels would supply 70% of our needs. Not sure where they get that figure from but I suppose it’s near enough the mark. However it was the suggestion that from March until October the panels would supply 100% of out hot water needs. NOT BY A LONG SHOT! Not in Ireland in any case. For the past few summers, during June, July and August, we have had substantially less hot water than in months like March and October.
If you get an “Irish Summer”, you may not see the sun for weeks. It is true to say that the panels are working but at nowhere near the capacity even to fill a sink to wash dishes.
The other argument that swings over and back is the superiority of flat plate collectors over evacuated tubes or vice versa. There has been several independent pieces of research carried out on this and the reality is that there is no significant difference in performance.
It is interesting to visit many of the trade shows that have sprung up over the past few years and listen to salesmen spending more time berating their competitors’ products but having very little to say about their own.
The best advice when talking to potential suppliers is ask them for sources of independent verification, If they can do this, then they may well know what they are talking about.
Talk to people who have panels already and ask their advice but do be wary that some people who have made dreadful mistakes, might not readily admit it.
Try and use a locally-based company who have some track record in this or other businesses. Local businesses are easier to chase if there is a problem and they are often less likely to risk getting a bad name in their home town – especially in Ireland.
I chose a local family-run (mum, dad, son & daughter) business to supply both wood pellet boiler and solar panels and I’ll have to say the product and service was pretty good. What I found with the small business, they were pretty keen to get feedback. There were a free initial teething problems but they were pretty keen to sort out these problems early on.
One of the difficulties is that many renewable energy products are manufactured (albeit to a very high standard) in countries such as Austria and Germany. In some cases the literature is not always translated to a good technical standard and also the appliances themselves may not take into consideration conditions in their host country such as water quality e.g. high iron and manganese content
Across the world people are blaming the housing boom for the global recession. Unfortunately those who are bearing the brunt of the recklesness of otheres are the ordinary folk like you who just want somewhere to live in relative comfort and security.
The situation is not as bleak as it seems, there are solutions. The first important step is to take control early on in the process of designing your own home. If you do this, you can maintain all aspects of owning your own home.
It is possible to design and build your own home without a mortgage! One of the trends we will see in coming years is the move to construction of homes in modules. This process will enable people building their first homes to build their homes to suit their present needs. You create your design for your dream home, you get planning permission and then you build the house to meet you present need. A young couple for example may complete the part of the living areas of their homes with just one or two bedrooms and one bathroom. As their family grows they can ad on extra living space and bedrooms.
With conventional building systems this option was expensive. It involved demolishing part of the original house and trying to ‘marry in’ the new extension. The process is simpler with natural materials especially if the extension is planned in advance.
The Passive House System is particularly suitable to modular construction. Wall panels or windows can be simple designed to slide out to facilitate an extension. The panel or window which is removed can then simply be moved and used in the new section.
[ad#Commission Junction-1]The most important thing you will need is your imagination and time and space to let your creativity flow. Discuss your ideas with your spouse, partner or family. What is your ‘Dream House’. You know your ‘Dream Home’ might just be possible. Don’t compromise on what you really want.
But we can’t afford it! Perhaps if more had heeded this advice we might not be in the global situation we are in right now. Price, however should not be a limiting factor at this stage. Write down everything you would dream yourself doing in your dream home: entertaining friends, playing music, raising your children in a safe, secure and loving environment, growing and eating you own vegetables, having an indoor cinema.
You know, I’ll bet that most of the things on your wish-list don’t have a big price tag. In my own home I wished for all of these things and most I’ve managed to fit into the design of my own home into a relatively small place. Most were things that didn’t cost a whole lot of extra money. The one extravagance was an indoor sauna which we built into the downstairs bathroom. We’ve haven’t used it just yet but when we do, it will be just a matter of hooking up the stove.
The point about it is Don’t be afraid to Dream!
Next useful tool is a blank sheet of paper (or several) Write. Draw. Scribble. Sketch. Keep all you efforts in a file together. It is such an interesting exercise to look back at earlier efforts and remark how you’ve progressed.
Next step might be to get your hands on some Computer Aided Design Software (CAD). Now in the past CAD software was hugely expensive, completely non-user friendly and in the end presented you with a one-dimensional set of black and white drawings which very often didn’t in any way reflect your vision of the house.
CAD software has undergone a revolution over the past few years with many programmes available to download for trial or for very reasonable fees. Even the most basic packages out there allow you to create realistic 3D, walk-through visualizations of your home without even the smallest degree of technical skill.
Newer packages such as PLAN3D – Home Design for Home Owners allow you to design your own house online for a small fee, while others offer a range of products for the amateur to the professional architect.
September 30, 2009By: greenbuilder Category: Design
Title: Sustainable Living and Natural Building Internship Location: Natural Building Network, PO Box 4120 #31810, Portland OR 97208-4120, USA Link out: Click here Description: 8-week in-depth internship program to individuals interested in getting hands-on experience in organic gardening, natural food production, earthen and natural building, seed saving, and community living. Start Date: 2009-10-5 End Date: 2009-12-3
We get frequent requests here at House Design Online for Free House Plans. OK, reality is that if you are looking for something cheap on the internet, you will get just that something cheap! At House Design Online we want to promote the idea of people taking control of the design of their own homes. By engaging in the design proccess, you are saving money but you are also ensuring a higher standard for your build.
There are a few sites out there however that offer “Free House Plans”. One such Stie is FREE GREEN House Plans.
The Beauty of Free Green House Plans is that they offer different options. They have 1,000’s of professionally designed ecological House Plans available for Free. The Free House Plans are sponsored. This is in fact a useful service. It just means that by clicking on any product such as furniture, accessories, building materials – you can find out the name of the supplier. There is a discount arrangement if you chose to purchase any of these products but absolutely no obligation to purchase. They then also have a premium facility where for a nominal membership fee, home owners of architects can download unlimited plans.
Free Green is an “Open Source” venture with benefits to both home owners and people in the design community. Most importantly Free Green promotes the best practivce in ecologiacl architecture
Wednesdays from 7th October to 11th November | 7.00 – 9.00pm
€180 (10% reduction Cultivate and ÉASCA members) | To book call: 01-6745773
This course uses Patrick’s popular book, The Energy Efficient Home, as the core reading. By the end of this series participants will have the confidence and knowledge to make the big decisions in managing a new build or renovation. Dr Patrick Waterfield is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Energy Institute. He is the author of 14 conference and journal papers and numerous periodical/magazine articles.
Session 1 | Site and Built Form – Microclimate, Passive Solar Design
Session 2 | Construction and Renovation – Materials, Insulation and
U Values
Session 3 | Features and Elements – Windows and doors, extensions,
conservatories, sunrooms and attic conversions
Session 4 | Heating and Ventilation Systems – Hot Water, under floor heating, heat pumps and natural and mechanical ventilation
Session 5 | Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency – Solar thermal, solar PV, biomass, wind, lighting appliances and best use of
daylight
Session 6 | Energy Rating and Wider Environmental Issues – Water Saving, Recycling, Building Regulations and Energy Auditing
September 19, 2009By: greenbuilder Category: Design
Here are six naturally built homes around the World. You can find out where they are by clicking on the ‘find it here’ link. Vote for the house you like the most by clicking on its radio button.
The site has recently been updated with new information on the speakers giving presentations at the Symposium.
The Symposium will offer a broad insight into the wide ranging possibilities of the Hemp Building
system and the contribution hemp materials can make to the world of Low carbon and Natural building.
As we search for ways of reducing our CO2 emissions and addressing the issues of energy peak and food security, Hemp is proving it has a lot to offer to the production of resources.
The 1st International Hemp Building Symposium will highlight the innovative ways in which hemp materials can be used to make Hemp Fibre insulation, Hempcrete made of Hemp-lime or Hemp-clay, and Hemp Plasters, together with the design, construction and the lifestyle benefits of living in such buildings.
16-18th September 2009 in Kenmare Bay Hotel, Kenmare. Co. Kerry, Ireland.
Designing and building sustainably is often an afterthought or at most a “consideration” for many people. “We would like to have an ecological house but ….” Solar panels for water heating are sometimes given the same consideration as a sun roof in a car, “would be nice”.
Renewable energy technologies and type of building materials need to be part of the design package. If they get relegated to “add on” status, then they no longer become useful and may well just appear as expensive optional extras.
One of the essential considerations when designing a home for yourself is “future-proofing” at design stage. We may, for example like to plan for a time in our life when we are not as agile as we are now so that we have fewer steps and good space at ground level or consider possibility of changes in lifestyle enforced by the global economic downturn, where prehaps a space could be easily converted to a workspace for home office or for childcare.
Similarily our design needs to enable our family home to be more resilient to a time when we will no longer afford be dependent on fossil fuels to meet our energy needs.
Picture yourself and you family, where you will be in a decade or so from now and to consider what you need to include at design stage now.
Congratulations to Peter, Alanna and all involved in the Eco Living Festtival which took place over the weekend. The festival took place in the scenic little village of Drumsna on the banks of the majestic Shannon River near Carrick-on-Shannon in Co. Leitrim.
There was something of interest for anyone interesting in ways to live more sustainably. I was particularly interested in a demonstration on how to build your own wind turbine. Suprisingly, it doesn’t seem to be so difficult, especially when explained by the people at Eirbyte.
Is it practical? Is it affordable? Is it sustainable? Yes to all, I would say. Lets all step out of the mode of mass production for a moment. Yes we could order something like these from China. But what is every local community started to teach local people how to build turbines locally.
The blades are manufactured using timber and many of the other componnents could be derived from recycled materials.
According to the people at Eirbyte, one doesn’t need to be an expert, many of the skills are taught at workshops throughout the country.
Within most local communities however, we havethe expertise, We have carpenters, welders, electricians, mechanics and engineers, many of whom are underemployed at the moment. By consolidating these skills, local communities could become more resilient.
For more information on the Eco Living Festival and on building your own wind turbine, please follow the links below:
It is interesting how many people who would dearly love their own home are put off the design process by their perceived lack of knowledge. We could equally say: “what do I know about walking”. Walking is a natural process, It wasn’t learned straight away. As children we tried and stumbled and tried again and stumbled again.
The ability to walk for most of us is an innate ability. As children we develop many abilities by a process of trial and error and of course play and imagination. Our ability to design and make a house for ourselves is innate also. Read the rest of this entry →
Inrtoduction TO Renewable Energy Course
With CREDIT Dundalk
This course is delivered by staff from the Centre for Renewable Energy at Dundalk
Institute of Technology and is directed at those who are interested in becoming familiar with renewable energy and those wishing to install a renewable energy system in their home or small business. Read the rest of this entry →
House Design has teamed up with “Green Books” to provide a wonderful selection of books covering all aspects of Ecobuilding and Sustainable Living. Green Books are an independent UK publishing company, producing books on a wide range of environmental and cultural issues. From time to time we will be featuring books, which we believe will be useful to our readers. By clicking on the title here you will be brought to the Green Books site in the UK where you can order the books from their website, using the secure store.
Introduction to Strawbale building.
A 1 day course that covers strawbale building history and it’s place in contemporary design and build, introduces the environmental and health benefits of strawbale buildings, and will give you practical knowledge of how strawbale is used in design and construction.
It also includes an overview of the next steps to becoming a strawbale builder
July 6th, August,19th, September 4th and 16th, October 14th, November 4th and 18th, December 15th
Course Location: Hope Mill, Crescent St, Todmorden, OL14 5HA, UK
If you are interested in strawbale building, there are a couple of websites that might be of use.
The first is Strawbale.com and is dedicated to anyone interested in building their own straw bale house. The site has offers on Strawbale building resources including very useful instructional DVDs. If you are brand new to straw bale or a straw bale construction specialist there’s something for you at StrawBale.com.
Another useful site is Amazon Nails , which has a wealth of useful information and resources for anyone considering strawbale building.
Check the events calendar for details of upcoming courses and events on strawbale building
A new Social Housing project in Dublin, Ireland is applying rainwater harvesting, solar panels, sheep’s wool insulation and using on-site communal composting as part of a new initiative by Dublin City Council to provide sustainable social housing and replace the homes originally on the site which were demolished in 2005.
In addition, much of the timber from the old apartments was recycled and used again in construction, while two previously used Georgian doors create an archway into the central garden area. Twelve stainless steel water casks are used to collect rain water in the courtyard, while large amounts of sheep wool are inserted into the external walls to provide added insulation.
The energy-saving features are expected to reduce fuel costs by up to 70 per cent and cut CO2 emissions by over 50 per cent.
Workshops Basics of Cob Building 7 day intensive workshop – Morayshire, Scotland
Inspire yourself and tantalise your senses during a week connecting with the earth at a beautiful rural location in Scotland. During the week you will discover how it’s possible to use the ground beneath your feet to sculpt your own cob building.
During the week you will be helping to sculpt a small building with stone foundation, cob walls and roundpole timber living roof, the structure will be completed with lime and earth plasters . You should leave the course with all the skills necessary to begin a small earth-building project of your own.
Hemp Lime Construction – Public Talk with Professor Tom Woolley
Eco Minimalist Houses and Building Using Natural Materials
Another in an interesting series of talks by the Cultivate Centre takes place at the Cultivate Centre on Monday evening, June 8th 2009.
Professor Tom Woolley who is a professor of Architecture at the Graduate School of the Environment at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales will deliver a public talk entitled “Eco Minimalist Houses and Building using Natural Materials”.
Hemp lime is a composite construction material that can be used for walls, insulation of roofs and floors and as part of timber-framed buildings. It provides very good thermal and acoustic performance, and offers a genuinely zero-carbon contribution to sustainable construction. Hemp masonry is breathable and is able to absorb and emit moisture, leading to much healthier buildings. This talk explores the current and potential uses of hemp lime in Ireland today.
County Tipperary’s “Little Belfast” is going green in the hope of attracting some new residents.In these challenging times, what with the economic meltdown and global warming, you might find yourself searching for simpler way of life.
Residents of a village in the Republic called Cloughjordan think they have found a way to escape the rat race.
They are building their own eco-village and hope the venture will breath new life into the area.
Led by ‘Amazonails’ Strawbale building experts this course will look at the history and use of straw bale buildings, different techniques, planning considerations and how to build. There will be practical workshops on the load bearing method, plaster and render preparation, and lime and earth finishes.
Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 9AZ, UK
ONLY A FEW PLACES LEFT SO BOOK NOW IF YOU WANT A PLACE!
This course is suitable for builders, architects and anyone who wishes to undertake the refurbishment of an existing building with minimal environmental impact both on-site and in use.
It accepts that 99.9% of us are never going to design
and build our own eco-houses, and outlines best practice (and the compromises involved) in eco Refurbishment.
The first Eco Living Festival will take place on the weekend of June 6th/7th at the Drummsna Community Resource Centre, Drumsna, Co. Leitrim (on the N4 near Carrick on Shannon).
The weekend event will have a packed program, with many speakers from across the country, as well as demonstrations, local produce stalls, nature walks, field trips and hands-on permaculture gardening practice in store.
It will be the showcase event for Permaculture Ireland this year, where we offer the public many positive solutions to global problems – solutions that can start in our own homes and backyards.
With admittance pricing at a meagre €5 Euros (€10) and many sustainable living ideas to be had, who cannot afford to come along to our Festival?.
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