[This article appeared in the magazine Clay Technology February 2011] Improving efficiency and reducing waste in our building methods is becoming increasingly important. The pressure for change is evident from government carbon reduction targets but also from consumers concerned about rising energy prices and climate change. By visiting over thirty examples of eco-housing in Britain, … Continue reading Home truths: Clay and earth eco-building
Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, USA
Dancing on a wooden floor in an adobe dome built the 1960s was not really how I had envisaged my visit to the Lama Foundation . Yet this collective moment of fun somehow helped connect me to this community in a way I had not expected. Open day dance inside the dome (built 1968) … Continue reading Lama Foundation, San Cristobal, New Mexico, USA
It’s the people who make eco-houses wonderful
The more eco-houses I visit and the more people ask me which were the best houses and which makes inspired me most, the more I realise it is the people who inspire me, not the houses. It is the way people have approached a build, navigated the problems, had the confidence and passion to try … Continue reading It’s the people who make eco-houses wonderful
Defining, teaching and thinking about eco-housing
Today I taught a seminar about whether, and how, we can conceive of eco-housing as a utopia. It is part of a master’s programme that I teach on Social Change and Resistance. It was by far the most useful hour of my day because there were four bright and intelligent students with whom to discuss … Continue reading Defining, teaching and thinking about eco-housing
Low cost building methods: Compressed Earth Block Technology
To achieve low cost eco-housing we have to be creative in the methods, as well as materials, that we use to build houses. Compressed Earth Block construction has been around for many years and has been particularly used for low cost construction in the majority world (like Africa and Latin America). However it is just as … Continue reading Low cost building methods: Compressed Earth Block Technology
ECO-HOMES + COMMUNITIES 