A look at China's ancient 'donut-like' homes

          I am always on the look out for new ideas when it comes to earth building. Here is one that is most interesting. The ancient China's rammed earth round or 'donut-like' homes. These consist of multiple levels with a kind of central court. These are really awesome.

          Take the time to read this article. It is really interesting. This could be a great way of using the Superadobe technique of building to make a larger structure for a small village or town taking up the least amount of space while still building with earth. It is something I am going to explore more with the idea of building the sustainable Druid community.

China's ancient 'donut-like' homes: Where to see the tulou

Organic Designs with Cod, straw bale, and Superadobe....

          One of the most wonderful aspects of building with earth and/or straw is the amazing flexibility which the materials have. Take a look at this image and see how an organic shape such as a shell has been turned into an addition onto the house. What a stunning idea and wonderful way to add character to your living space.

         This is something I will have to look at when building the Superadobe home!

Videos on actually building Superadobe structures as created by CalEarth

Here are some videos I found on YouTube of the actual process of building the CalEarth Superadobe structures. They are very informative and shows just how simple building with this technique really is. Image the lack of dept Americans could relieve by building this way. Image mortgages dropping well under $15,000 while using earth to build with very little else. Image being able to free up all the resources that go into modern homes. Image being able to leave our forests alone so they could do the job our Earth Mother planned for them to... clean the air and provide oxygen to other life forms.

Take a look... this is my dream. This is the home one day I will have. This is the way I want to build a sustainable Druid community.

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Earth homes...

It amazes me that in the world we live in that more people don’t seek to build through abundant local resources that could dramatically change the future of those living within them and the environment around them.

Building superadobe and mud homes is considered private to most of us. But they are the most resistance, durable, and low cost building materials in the world. They provide protect from the temperatures changes and weather. As for heating and cooling, that is done over all passively through the very structure itself. They can be designed to work in extremely wet and cold climates just as effectively as in hot dry climates.

Here is a small example of one nation which still uses ancient techniques to build their earth homes.

Gurunsi Earth Houses of Burkina Faso

Aquaponics... this is something to really look into!

          I am always on the look out on ways to help make my dream of a sustainable community come true. Aquaponics is a great way to help that come about. I found an article on Pinterest where a guy had created the neatest Aquaponics idea I have seen so far!

          What he created was a Tilapia Pond, 4000 gallon tank in the middle of his green house will hold 2000 Tilapia, the water will be used to water his plants giving them needed nutrients. The heat from the pond will warm the greenhouse in winter. This is a wonderful idea that benefits the whole ecosystem of the green house. To learn more about what is happening with this check out the site: Remote Gardner

          There is a place in Atlanta GA that uses something similar though at a much lower fish population. They use their pounds to help with the humidity and heat within the green  house itself. The place is called the Atlanta Water Garden. I have always loved going into the gardens there. It always makes me feel so relaxed. The trickling of water, the splash of fountains, and the smell of all the plants is just amazing.

          If you live or are visiting the area check them out.  You won't be disappointed in the environment they have created there at their store. They do offer their services to the public as well as offering a staggering selection of indoor and outdoor gardening and fountain supplies. Atlanta Water Gardens

                       

I found a great site that helps explain how the Aquaponics system works. The more I read about this the more I want to use this in the Community. I believe it will be a great source of both vegetables and protein.
Check out the article. It really is pretty amazing how this works. Once setup and running they need very little water or work to maintain. "How Aquaponics Works"

New BIO-Engineering Techs

I am always looking for some great ideas for the community. There are several in this article on Popsci.com

Check it out! There is even a guided growth 'tree' house! I so nerded out on this article!

This is well worth checking out. This could be a great idea for growing some of the buildings as experiments for the community. I am so excited!!!

Why do people think you must go primitive to be green?

         I was talking with some friends yesterday about the sustainable living Druid community I want to build. They were extremely excited to see I was interested in it and started talking about going totally primitive. They were not the first people who immediately responded this way to my idea.

          So Why do people think you must go primitive to be green? I mean really... there is no need at all to go back to the 1800's way of living to be green. I am not really sure why anyone would WANT to go back to a private way of living.

          In this day and age people can live a green sustainable life while still having modern conveyances. To be off the grid you use modern renewable energy sources like wind turbines, solar panels, bio-diesel fuels, and hydro power turbines. The modern improvements give much more efficient power generation. And for appliances, we have energy star certified things or when it comes to a refrigerator there are propane powered units, etc.

          So again I ask "Why do people think you must go primitive to be green?" What a ridiculous idea! Now if you WANT to go primitive... sure go right ahead but I do tend to like things like running hot water, indoor plumping, internet, things like that.

Gathering rain water... water cisterns

          I live in an area where it rains pretty regularly but there are times during the summer when we will go weeks without rain. This can cause a major issue with watering food crops, animals, and the like. The best way I can see to help with this is through water cisterns.

          I have seen many different types of cisterns; underground, barrels, above ground large cisterns. But they all do the same thing, they collect water from roofs. The rain runs off the roofs into gutters which then funnel the rain into pipes which then carry it to the cistern itself. I really do see this as a great way to gather rain water for green house and for animals.

Great Article on building low cost earth homes...

Here is a great article on building 'Dirt Cheap' homes. The article gives a lot of wonderful ideas on what to consider when building an earthen home. I really found it very informative. Check it out!

How to Build Dirt Cheap Houses

Glass Blocks/Bricks.... natural light source?

          One of the ideas I keep playing with is the use of glass blocks/bricks being embedded in the Superadobe walls as a source of natural light. I have seen tons of images where colored wine and beer bottles are used as decoration and lighting with cod and adobe homes. So would this work well for the use of some natural light sources that didn't require large windows?

          I think this could really help open the home to pools of natural light that can really add to the ambient feel of the home or structure. I know that in general glass blocks/bricks provide pretty good thermal insulation as well. I would really rather use this kind of option and the use of sky lights. With the way the Superadobe structures are build it would be easy to just embed the blocks/bricks directly into the structure of the walls as they are being built. This was require only that they be sealed with a waterproofing agent to prevent leakage from any water or rain that might be on them. 

          Another great use would be for exterior walls. This would also allow for light to come through while still providing privacy to a degree. The other nice thing is it adds a great aspect of color and beauty.

          With the addition of glass, both clear and colored, in bottles and in blocks/bricks, the already stunning structures that can be made with the Superadobe building technique will be enhanced great.