House Design Online

(with thanks to Oliver @ http://naturalhomes.org)

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.

Build your own Wind Turbine

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:

EIRBYTE

ECO LIVING FESTIVAL

BUILD YOUR OWN WIND TURBINE

SCORAIG WIND ELECTRIC

There are also a number of books which might be of interest:

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

For more information see AMAZON NAILS

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

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.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE