just a couple sketches for a home office or studio with plenty of use of green and/or passive solar principles: recycled glass, reclaimed framing timbers, high thermal mass wall and floor, cross vent., light site footprint.




just a couple sketches for a home office or studio with plenty of use of green and/or passive solar principles: recycled glass, reclaimed framing timbers, high thermal mass wall and floor, cross vent., light site footprint.




No, we’re not certified yet. If our calculations are correct, it will cost $300 to become a member of USGBC, $75 to join the local chapter, and another $300 to take the exam. This of course does not include any preparation materials and /or classes.
Hmm. I guess everyone has to make a living! I’m not convinced we would recoup our costs any time soon.
What do you think?
another way to think about housing…
1. Simple, elegant architecture saves money and looks great.
2. Local resources are good for the economy and the environment.
3. Sustainable power systems don’t have to cost more than traditional systems.
4. Most, if not all work can be done by normal people with average mechanical skills.
5. Now is the time; Whether you think you can, or cannot. Either way you are right. —Ford

I opened my big mouth and said I could build a shed as cool as weeHouse or Tumbleweed Tiny House in under 3 weeks, in my spare time. Here is the site, with the current run-down shed. Demo day is tomorrow!
more pics here…

I love this idea but the execution leaves something to be desired. This is the only image I could find of the new ‘luxury log cabins for eco-tourists’, but they don’t look particularly luxurious, nor do they seem to feature much that I’d consider either log or cabin. They seem to be more reminiscent of a bomb shelter or an Inca burial chamber.
Hmm.
We’ll have to wait and see when and if these ever come to be built. At this point, I’d have to say, “Keep going,” on this one.
Read the article here…
My boys made a little Lincoln Log town when we were down in AZ visiting the grandparents. I love this shot J. took, right down on their level. It made me feel like I was 6 again, laying on my stomach on the living room carpet building these little worlds with Legos, Lincoln Logs and whatever else we had around the house.
Glad to see the boys carrying on the improvising tradition. [Note the Fig Newton box/cabin roofing...]
Nice work boys!
I ran across this great old ad for Sears Catalog Homes on a Google search the other day and I love it! It claims to save the builders nearly 1/3 of the total construction cost just for doing it themselves. So much like the small house movement sweeping the nation right now. I love this. Don’t know what I’ll do with it, but I’m sure it will manifest somewhere…