A project conceived by Julie E. Brent
    ******go to pictures of my completed project*****

Purpose

To create a practical and simple plan for a home that incorporates the use of free energy and other features to save the earth's resources, while utilizing building resources that are inexpensive and renewable.

To design a SaveEarth home that stays within the current per square foot rate for building a home. http://www.emagazine.com/july-august_1997/0797feat1.html

Quotes from the article in emagazine:

" Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts-based architect Betsy Pettit designed a dozen eco-homes in Dallas for much less, working with a developer who wanted to "do the right thing"; they sold for $80,000 each, including the land. Such projects, although on the rise, are a rarity in subsidized low-income housing developments. They're almost non-existent in the mainstream housing market. According to Pettit, people who want to build a similar eco-home would need a lot more money to do it right: "Such houses below the $150,000 range are typically not developed by the homeowner," she notes.

" UNDER A GREEN ROOF - from letters to the editor . . .
I wanted to congratulate E on the "affordable eco-housing" article ("What on Earth is an Eco-Home?" July/August 1997). What a rare but needed effort! Raising the issue of affordability coupled with sustainability is timely and important.

As someone interviewed for this article, I also want to clarify certain information, particularly concerning the pricing of the Greenforms systems. The original "GreenForms" housing system was a complete tiny home with a solar-based kitchen, waste treatment and intensive food production methods, designed for Central American refugees returning to their homelands following wars, and not intended for the U.S. market. We estimated its cost at $2,500 for the kitchen and $5,000 for the structure (materials only). Pliny Fisk III Co-Director, Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems Austin, TX"

To make usable architectural drawings that can be purchased by the consumer for their use in building an affordable earth friendly home.

Contacts of people already in the business, taken from the article in above from "emagazine".

Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
8604 F.M. 969, Austin, TX 78724
Tel: (512)928-4786

Center for Resourceful Building Technology
P.O. Box 100, Missoula, MT 59806
Tel: (406)549-7678

One Design, Inc.
714 Waterford Road, Louisville, KY 40205
(no phone, but sells video for $34 on ECCO House tour and construction)

Rammed Earth Works
1350 Elm Street, Napa, CA 94559
Tel: (707) 224-253

Rocky Mountain Institute
1739 Snowmass Creek Road, Old Snowmass, CO 81654-9199
Tel: (303)927-3851

Donald Watson (sells blueprints of The Ecology House for $99)
54 Larkspur Drive, Trumbull, CT 06611
Tel: (203) 459-0332.
 

Economic Considerations

To pay for the time and research devoted to this enterprise the architectural plans can be sold on the internet, a quick and easy way to inform a growing audience. This method can be used effectively to reach many people with the least amount of investment. There can be a special arrangement for builders who want to use the plans if they will use them to build subdivisions incorporating the SaveEarth House designs.

It is our intention to find a builder who would like to use SaveEarth home designs. We also intend to develop a training program to educate subcontractors in these building techniques.

Other information of interest:

http://www.doityourself.com/build/
http://www.ecohome.org/index.html

 Appearance of Home

The home can be a simple floor plan of rectangular shape. Using between 1200 - 1600 square feet of floor space for the basic plan http://www.eren.doe.gov/consumerinfo/refbriefs/vi2.html with options to expand the number of bedrooms therefore increasing the floor space.

By using an open floor plan with the kitchen and primary living area together it will feel larger. There should be one and one-half bath minimum and option for two baths. The bedrooms will use slightly less than half of the space.

Structural Materials

There are many options to be explored in structural materials that are from renewable resources.

For building a home that has a more traditional appearance without using balloon construction the Fischer Group in Lousiville, Kentucky has created the SIPS (structural Insulated panelized system)
panel. High R values and ease of construction onsite is featured. Go to www.fischersips.com to learn more about this.

Strawbale construction is becoming a highly regarded renewable building material. There is much research and historical use of strawbale to rely on. Construction methods are simple and straw is readily available.

This construction method offers very little difference in appearance than balloon construction, which is a primary consideration when appealing to the general public. There is considerable precedent for acceptance by the Tucson City zoning commission, as they have done their homework to insure safety and feasibility. There are other locations in California that have zoning laws passed to accept this type of building. It is becoming something that many cities are on the way to accepting.
 

The biggest drawback may be that in areas of high rainfall extra precautions must be taken to insure that the bales are dry during construction and that they are well sealed after stacking to prevent pest and moisture invasion. There is a great deal of research in progress to come up with solutions for moisture barriers and frost heave. However, the first strawbale home in the US was in Minnesota and it is still standing after 100 years.

A new method of building walls with high R-value called castearth (resource http://www.castearth.com ) just appeared on the scene at the end of 1998. The apparent drawback to this method while sharing many of the positive features of strawbale is that is has a long way to go before being accepted, and strawbale is on the leading edge of this movement already. However, castearth has one huge advantage over straw in that it does not deteriorate in high humidity.

The addition of passive solar http://www.ncsc.ncsu.edu/07sithom.htm would be an advantage, combining R-30 walls and ceilings (blown cellulose) with passive solar nearly eliminates the need for fossil fuel use. By adding a heat sink the life of the passive solar is increased dramatically, during evening and long days of rainy weather in the winter months. To study the incorporation of a hydroponic greenhouse for year-round single family food production, as part of the passive solar would be desirable.  Another option is the Power Organizing Module http://www.earthship.org/

Ideally the roofing material (metal) would be supportive of a cistern water collection system. Using water from a cistern for all of the household needs with maybe the exception of drinking water would be a desirable renewable resource.
This system used with the earthship community gives some good information as well. http://www.earthship.org/

Interior Construction

Inside of the house the plans will incorporate earth saving advantages at every opportunity. Water saving systems such as composting toilets http://www.compostingtoilet.com/RESIDENT/res_home.htm#Res , or low flush toilets, http://www.pakai.com/union.htm , reuse of grey water and http://www.cwjamaica.com/~munrot/greyinfo.htm for watering the garden and "point of use" smaller water heaters or solar water heaters http://www.solardirect.com/

The use of recycled materials as building products should be considered. However this must be studied very carefully to avoid outgasing of the component materials. Finding natural products that are made from renewable resources is the ideal solution. The cost of these items should be studied and weighed so as not to increase the overall cost of the construction.

For example the following builder used these resources:

"Cambridge Co-housing project include the use of cellulose insulation in the walls and attic and wood-framed low-e, gas-filled windows. The townhouse operates on a community-based geothermal system for space heating and cooling and a centralized boiler for water heating. The fully-zoned heating and cooling system delivers air to rooms as determined by independent room thermostats. A heat recovery ventilator delivers fresh air to each room while recovering heat from conditioned exhaust air.

GreenVillage installed high-efficiency horizontal-axis clothes washers and fluorescent lighting. Using recycled materials and maintaining a high level of indoor air quality by minimizing outgassing of VOCs was a goal in construction. They used ceramic tiles made from recycled glass, natural linoleum flooring, cellulose insulation, truss joist floors, and low-VOC paints and adhesives." http://www.nahbrc.org

GreenVillage Company, 129 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
(617) 491-1888 FAX (617) 491-6004

Other Resources:

Designing a Home:

http://www.countryplans.com/
http://www.enertia.com/

Education Center

http://www.eduzone.com
http://www.oikos.com/index.html

Other ideas:

http://www.kie.berkeley.edu/people/alex/lib97-topics.html

Communities & Homes:

http://sustainable.org/
http://www.ecocentre.org.uk/projects/house.htm
http://www.media.mit.edu/unwired/theproject.html