People have the idea that living in an ecologically sound way has to be hard and full of deprivation. This is not at all true. People have invented everything we need to live very well, while we take care of Mother Earth.
I have spent years looking up what wonderful people have already worked out for us to have a happy, comfortable life. My first priority in this is a home. I believe an underground or Earth-sheltered home is the answer to an enormous reduction in energy use while staying comfortable. Such homes stay within a few degrees year round and do not freeze even in very cold areas.
Mike Oehler invented a home he called an underground home, although he said that he should have called it an Earth Sheltered home. His homes keep residents safe from a host of potential disasters including fire, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. His book, "the $50 and Up Underground Home Book can be found on Amazon for about $25. It contains information that will be enough for amateur to build a home from the book without blueprints, etc. it even includes engineering tables that tell you how thick your roof posts need to be and how close together for the snow load.
There are some other good types of underground homes, but Mike's designs generally let in more light and air and safer exit in emergency. One of the other types of underground homes is called PAH, or Passive Annualized Heating. That one costs a lot more because it uses a lot of insulation.
Another type of Earth sheltered home is called Earthships and incorporates old tires into it. I read some complaints about outgassing from the tires, but think it will not be a problem as long as you are careful about making good seals when you build it.
Straw bale homes are another option for fairly simple energy efficient building, but the straw bales will probably increase the building price in most locations. This type of building would be an enormous fire hazard unless you are very meticulous about sealing. If you tend to be slap dash about your work, get someone else to help you build or choose another type of building.
Earth bags or adobe are cheap ways to build, but are not as stable during earthquakes as Mike Oehler's designs.
I have considered a combination of Mike Oehler's design and an Earthship design, but not if I end up having to pay too much to ship a lot of old tires by air.
Some traditional Alaskan Native home designs have a lot in common with Mike Oehler's designs. I think this is encouraging for such building in this area. Modifications to his designs will probably need to take the frostline into account.
Here is a link to a video about Mike Oehler's home design: Alternative and Off-Grid Permaculture Building The post on the link is an old one, from before Mike died. I doubt they are still giving away free books. You can still find his underground home book as well as his one about underground greenhouses. I think his underground greenhouse is ok, but i might choose to actually build a little different design based on traditional ones from South America. What you choose should be based on how you want to use it and your location and weather, etc.
I have spent years looking up what wonderful people have already worked out for us to have a happy, comfortable life. My first priority in this is a home. I believe an underground or Earth-sheltered home is the answer to an enormous reduction in energy use while staying comfortable. Such homes stay within a few degrees year round and do not freeze even in very cold areas.
Mike Oehler invented a home he called an underground home, although he said that he should have called it an Earth Sheltered home. His homes keep residents safe from a host of potential disasters including fire, earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes. His book, "the $50 and Up Underground Home Book can be found on Amazon for about $25. It contains information that will be enough for amateur to build a home from the book without blueprints, etc. it even includes engineering tables that tell you how thick your roof posts need to be and how close together for the snow load.
There are some other good types of underground homes, but Mike's designs generally let in more light and air and safer exit in emergency. One of the other types of underground homes is called PAH, or Passive Annualized Heating. That one costs a lot more because it uses a lot of insulation.
Another type of Earth sheltered home is called Earthships and incorporates old tires into it. I read some complaints about outgassing from the tires, but think it will not be a problem as long as you are careful about making good seals when you build it.
Straw bale homes are another option for fairly simple energy efficient building, but the straw bales will probably increase the building price in most locations. This type of building would be an enormous fire hazard unless you are very meticulous about sealing. If you tend to be slap dash about your work, get someone else to help you build or choose another type of building.
Earth bags or adobe are cheap ways to build, but are not as stable during earthquakes as Mike Oehler's designs.
I have considered a combination of Mike Oehler's design and an Earthship design, but not if I end up having to pay too much to ship a lot of old tires by air.
Some traditional Alaskan Native home designs have a lot in common with Mike Oehler's designs. I think this is encouraging for such building in this area. Modifications to his designs will probably need to take the frostline into account.
Here is a link to a video about Mike Oehler's home design: Alternative and Off-Grid Permaculture Building The post on the link is an old one, from before Mike died. I doubt they are still giving away free books. You can still find his underground home book as well as his one about underground greenhouses. I think his underground greenhouse is ok, but i might choose to actually build a little different design based on traditional ones from South America. What you choose should be based on how you want to use it and your location and weather, etc.
