How A Pottery Water Wall Works Could the Pottery Water Wall be the answer to energy efficient building within arid, desert environments? A recent passive solar submission came from an architect/designer based in Dubai, UAE. Moustafa Anwar Moustafa is looking to combine the passive attributes of a Trombe or water wall and add convective air elements to increase comfort within buildings located in an arid, desert climate. Diagram of how a Trombe Wall in action. From Energysavers.gov First, an explanation of the concepts he is building on. Here are other examples of Trombe walls being used in Zion National Park and a within a house. Living in an arid, hot desert environment that cools quickly in the evening, Moustafa came up with a theory that adds not only passive solar heat to warm the building throughout the colder night, but also adds ventilation and humidity to the equation. His answer is contained within the idea of a pottery water wall that was developed as an upgrade to the water wall. by Keya Lea
Comfort In Any Climate Warmth If you want heat, you admit the sun. The sun heats the mass, the mass stores the heat and the insulation won't let it escape. The more mass, the more storage capacity. When there is no sun, the heat stored in the mass radiates into the space, for heat travels to the cooler direction. Coolness If you want coolness, you admit the cooler earth temperature and block the sun. Insulation & Thermal Mass In recent years humans have recognized the fact that insulation can help keep temperature in a shelter. Good insulation has millions of tiny air spaces. Dense mass both collects and stores temperature like a jar holds marbles. The people made shelter by assembling pieces one at a time. We are simply adapting our needs to the already existing activities of the planet. Why pipe water long distances from a centralized community water system, or from an expensive well that needs significant electrical power, depletes aquifers and lowers the water table, when water fall from the sky?
Darfield Earthship | Plans The rendered perspective is an image of the earthship buried in the ground. You can see berms at the back (north end) of the roof to channel collected water from the roof into the cisterns. The ducting to accomplish this collection is not shown. I will be updating the drawings on this page as I continue to update the building plans. This is the first draft of our earthship’s plan set! This plan set is unfinished but it does give an idea of the direction the plans are heading. The drawings are incomplete and not entirely consistent. Over the coming weeks I will be updating these plans as I finalize our plans for submission to our local building authority. Revisions Feb 17, 2009 Modified floorplan and foundation pages with new bathroom layout. Feb 19, 2009 Continued to update all pages. March 4, 2009 Submitted plan set to the Thompson Nicola Regional District Building Department.
La maison autonome sans factures Qui n’a jamais rêvé de ne plus recevoir de factures, de s’affranchir du réseau électrique, de ne pas être raccordé à celui de l’eau ? Se sentir libre de tous ces fils à la patte et surtout faire beaucoup, beaucoup d’économies tout en contrôlant enfin sa consommation grâce à la prise de conscience de ses besoins réels. Allumer la lumière, c’est aussi facile qu’un clic sur un bouton, pourtant chez Christophe, dans sa chaleureuse petite maison au bord du Vidourle, c’est une autre histoire ! Ici, on est complètement autonome, on se débrouille tout seul pour produire l’électricité dont on a besoin et on pompe l’eau en fonction de sa consommation. 4 panneaux solaires photovoltaïques assurent l’entière couverture de leurs besoins en électricité. Pour se contenter de si peu, il n’y a pas de secret, il faut consommer peu de courant. Résultat : La famille consomme moins que l’électricité produite par les trois panneaux solaires. Dans la cuisine ? Ils ont un four et des plaques de cuisson à gaz.
Steve Areen Builds Perfect Dream Dome Home In Thailand For Less Than $10,000 When most people imagine their dream home, they probably think of a large, sprawling vacation house that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. When Steve Areen thought about building his dream home, all he had to do was find $9,000 and a place to build. He did just that and, in a few weeks, he had a vacation home in the middle of Thailand that could make anyone drool. In just 6 weeks, Steve was able to create the home of his dreams. With a Thai friend’s guidance, his son-in-law’s masonry skills and a lot of work, the team made progress quickly. Steve was given a place on his friend Hajjar Gibran’s mango grove to build his home. The basic structure only cost about $6,000. In Thailand, materials are cheaper, but it’s still mind blowing to know just how little this cost to make. The extra details and furnishings of the home brought the cost up another $3,000. Totaling approximately $9,000 for the entire home. It took elbow grease and dedication. But it seems so worth it. Can I go here right now?
Association Régionale d'Éco-construction du Sud-Ouest Autoconstruction - Construire sa maison soi-même Laying out the Building Lines For Your Natural Building « Natural Living School Site Preparation After you select your site, and have a plan and design for your building, then you are ready for site preparation. The first thing to do is make sure you clear the site where the building will be located. This means removal of trees, shrubs, large rocks, stumps, or anything that may be in the way of the construction. If there is a lot of plant life, you may choose to transplant it, or if it’s just grasses you may just mow it down or weed whack it. If you are planning on having a living roof, you could use the top soil and the plants on your roof, as long as they don’t require lots of space for deep roots. Laying Out The Building Lines For the purpose of keeping things simple, lets look at two options. For a round structure; First, pound a stake deep in the ground where you want the center of your building to be. The trench for a round Sauna we worked on in Aurora Or. Then remove the top soil and set aside for future use. Batter Board Diagram for your Natural Building
How To Build a 400 Square Foot Solar Powered Off-Grid Cabin for $2,000 Everybody talks about want to create a more simple, stress-free lifestyle for themselves. Well how does no debt, no mortgage, hardly any maintenance, a pocket full of cash, and a closer relationship with nature sound? Check this out. Solar powered housing, a garden that produces your fruits and vegetables, and a stress-free lifestyle are not something that takes years of planning and research. How to build a nice small cabin powered by solar panels: Lamar Alexander built this cute little 400 square foot cabin for approximately $2000, and powers it with a 570 watt solar and wind power system. “This cabin is 14×14 with a full loft and approximately 400 square feet of living space. Here is an instructional video outlining how he built this cabin: Here is another couple that built themselves a house: Images: PreciousRoy These houses may not be very big, but the families have all their basic needs met and now have financial freedom and free time to live the lives they want. Sources: TinyHouseTalk
Composting greenhouse provides hot water (original) The original content of this page, "Composting greenhouse provides hot water (original)", was authored by Ole Ersson, and was written from his point of view. It was ported with permission from Experiments in Sustainable Urban Living. Bales Our household of 2 adults and three children obtained all our household hot water from a composting greenhouse we constructed in Portland, Oregon in 1994. It provided hot water at a temperature of 90-130 degrees (Fahrenheit) continuously until it was dismantled 18 months later. We used the space to grow several species of mushrooms and to house plants from our garden during winter. The strawbale floor The greenhouse design was similar to inexpensive "tube" greenhouses. Pipe supports for the roof Two PVC 3/4 inch water lines ran underground from the house to the greenhouse. Plans in the greenhouse The total amount of hot water contained in the hose inside the compost (comprising a cylinder 100 feet long by 1.5 inch diameter) was 9.17 gallons.
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