Living Homes

Wow. It's not that often that a website blows me.....away, but here it is: Living Homes.net
It's another modular building company, but as you'll see these guys are hitting it hard. Serious eco responsibility theme going on here. This is architecture, design and technology blended together perfectly. Awesome.

Go and check out that website tho, seriously. It's really cool. The front page is made up of timelapsed sequences showing the house through out the day.
There is a video showing a cool time lapse sequence of the house being erected on the site in 8 hrs.

It worth having a poke around at other things, particularly take the tour.

LivingHomes.net

Plug + Play Construction

This interesting article in wired magazine reminds me of something I have thought about for years: Modular housing. The concept itself isn't new, but previously it's been done only to a certain level.

This "Loblolly" house by kierantimberlake.com is a prototype of a true plug and play house which incorporates wiring, communications, plumbing, heating etc into the wall, floor and roof modules.

"THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY to construct a house is to build it in a factory. This reduces a home's "embodied energy" – the amount of power expended in its fabrication and construction. And conventional homebuilding is dirty work. From the fuel used by commuting workers to onsite diesel generators, the construction and operation of homes and other structures generates 40 to 50 percent of all the greenhouse gases in the US, according to the US Energy Information Administration."

Wired Magazine Article
Loblolly House homepage

DIY Wind Generator

I'd really like to make one of this next weekend. Seriously.

We have a 2m x 4m balcony, so I reckon I could do it. Better not, Jack likes to hang out there so if there are blades out there chopping in the wind - well, it might end in tears. Maybe up on the roof of the building....hmmm.

From the instructables website...

Chispito Wind Generator

The Chispito Wind Generator was designed to be simple and efficient with fast and easy construction. There are no limits to what you can do with wind power. There is nothing more rewarding and empowering than making a wind powered generator from scrap materials. Most of the tools and materials in this manual can be found in your local hardware shop or junk pile.

Chispito Wind Generator
A really good NZ article about converting washing machines into Wind Generators
Another excellent wind generator site

Living Off the Grid

A few of you know that I am a bit of a nut with an obsessive dream to build a house that generates it's own energy. Some call it self sufficient living, but I don't think that accurately described what I had in mind as most self sufficient people tend to have long hair, are vegans, smoke weed and live in the desert just outside of Tucson Arizona.
I'm too much of a tech addict to ever de-evolutionize (new word?) to that point.

Well, recently while reading some more about this (read: "feeding the obsession") I came across the term "Off the Grid" which I think more accurately describes the direction I'm interested in.
More importantly, I found a site outlining many of the ideas and concepts I have been thinking of.
It's put together by Glen Hunter, who with his partner started building an "Off the Grid" place in 2002. The house is made of straw, which in my opinion is a whole other issue to "off the grid" but after looking at the progress and final results I must admit I think straw houses are pretty interesting too.
The site Glen has put together outlines many many of the issues and details associated with off the grid living, for the point of view of an owner/builder who also has a 'normal' job (i.e. isn't living off the land and building full time)

Anyway, here is the link to the site. The house is in Canada, and you'll see from the pics they experience 'real' winters of -30deg with good dumpings of snow.
The major 'eco' design factor of the house is using the sun to heat a huge mass during the day, and radiating that heat back at night. On Glen's house this is achieved via a wall of windows, and a bare concrete floor. Even in the winter, the sun streams in and does it's thing. Along with this form of heating is underfloor radiant heating, and (just recently!) a very small log burner. Electrical power all comes from Solar and Wind....oh yeah.

They live over 800m from a possible grid power source, are not connected to it, and living a normal life - that's cool.

I found this site pretty inspirational. Often I feel most people don't quite get it when I mention "off the grid" - this is a great example of what I have been talking about.

The Straw House Blog
My page of interesting links for building a house

Traditional Wood Fired Pizza Oven

I think I have mentioned before that not having a garage in Taiwan is driving me crazy....but it's bigger than that. I mean, what do I want a garage for? To build shit, that's what.

Recently my Mum (That's Mom to those from North America) sent me a copy of a fine article out of a NZ magazine called "The Shed". The article is a step-by-step thing on how to build your own Traditional outdoor oven.
I could scan in in for you, but it's just too hard. Instead I found a pretty good site on it.

Here is one that I reckon looks cool:

More pics here

I'd actually forgotten about these things until recently, but when we were travelling around Italy in 2002, these ovens are actually the 'normal' way of cooking pizza, although usually they are built indoors. I found it fascinating to watch the doods making the dough, then turning it into Pizzas for cooking right there in the restaurant.
At the time I was thinking this would be a good addition to Truantville. I like the idea of (wait for it....the Binford idea) making a combo style, that includes a BBQ, or one that is built into a wall of the house and can be used from either inside or outside. I haven't seen that done yet, but I am sure that would be the best way to do it to avoid freezing yer ass off in the winter, or being forced to cook inside while yer mates are outside boozing on the deck in the sun. I reckon it would be great to invite people over and have them cook their own pizza, just the way they like it.

Anyway, I reckon this will be one of the FIRST things to be built on Truantville. Even if it's all there is, it gives food, warmth and a social focus....and let's face it, that's what a good home is all about right?

http://www.traditionaloven.com