Evening at the MoonUnit
Posted by Michael, February 25th , 2007.
Evening at the Moonunit. A video pictorial of Project MoonUnit at night.
With special guests Jo-anna Horn and Nedly Underfoot.
Video by Michael Blaha.
Music by Low.
Crews & Lawyer Mural
Posted by Michael, February 22nd , 2007.
On a winding alley road in downtown Taos stands a magnificent work of art. Carole Crews, Taos resident and earthen plaster guru, created this mural with Lori Lawyer over 16 years ago. The adobe wall is set on a stone stem wall and capped with cement tiles. The roof has done a great job of protecting the resplendent earthen finish.
Natural Building Gatherings
Posted by Michael, February 11th , 2007.
May 22-31, 2007 — The Village Building Convergence
June 17-24, 2007 — Build Here Now
July 31-August 4, 2007 — Building With Spirit
October 19-28, 2007— Texas Bioregional Natural Building Gathering
June 20-29, 2008 — Asheville Building Convergence (ABC)
October 2008 — International Natural Building Colloquium
Upcoming natural building events for 2007 - 2008.
Information courtesy of the Natural Building Network »
From the Ground Up
Posted by Michael, February 1st , 2007.
While visiting Cob Projects, I found a link to Stephen Hren’s article in Home Power Magazine ( A Hand Built Home - From the Ground Up - download PDF article ).
Stephen Hren and his wife Rebekah built their cob home in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, about 30 miles north of Duram. What amazes me about this project is that it’s completely up to code and it’s cost is so little. The construction cost for the house was $10,950. Affordable? Yes. Later additions of a solar PV system, driveway, septic and well adds another $9,200. $20,150 is very affordable even for the most modest-of-means among us.
Labor, around 2000 hours of it, was not included in the ( monetary) cost. Stephen, Rebekah and their friends traded sweat equity instead of money. Which at $20 an hour, a basic skilled laborer wage, totals $40,000.
Their inspector allowed them to use Pima County, Arizona, building codes that detail “monolithic adobe”. Mark down another code-accredited cob home for the records!
I find it very exciting that cob is finding it’s way into the mainstream of modern housing. Much appreciation goes out to those trailblazers that are working twords building ecologically friendly, inexpensive, monolithic adobe homes.
