Building | The Greenman Project

The Sociable Weaver builds it’s nest in community

Mar

2013

I’ve been on a community state of mind lately. Might be because we are “homeless” right now and our friends are really stepping up to bat. We are very lucky to be able to maintain our course through these rough waters. The Sociable Weavers (Philetairus socius) build these incredible communal nests one straw at a ...

Earthen Buildings are much more durable than we think

Mar

2013

Ever heard of a Tulou? They are from China, meaning earthen building. The outer walls were made of rammed earth, a technique not conventionally though of as long lasting. That being said, these structures date as far back as 700 years ago. How long do you thing our current buildings will last? Maybe it’s time to reevaluate ...

Final part of the West Coast trip 4

Dec

2012

After Sebastopol, we stopped over at Emerald Earth for the night and had some good conversations and even better dinner. It was our first night sleeping in a natural home. How amazing it was, not a single foul chemical to be perceived. When we got there it felt like we were in the middle of ...

Emerald Earth Natural Building Intensive

Aug

2012

Ever since I found out about natural building, I realized it was something I just had to get into. Having been in and out of the ceramics world for over two decades now, it seemed a natural progression to sculpt homes. If you have never been in a passive solar designed natural home, I highly ...

Book Shelf: The Hand Sculpted House 2

Jul

2012

I got this book in preparation for a week long natural building workshop I’ll be attending in early August. This is written by pioneers of the American cob renascenceIanto Evans, Michael G. Smith, and Linda Smiley. Just getting into the meat of it, but could not help but post about it. So far it’s inspiring and ...

Cool Home Design 1

Nov

2011

We’ve been busy here at home. Friends from Israel dropped by for a stay. They have been traveling all over the US. One of the stops they made was at Natural Spaces Domes. They are a Minnesota based Geodesic Dome Home design family business. After talking with the family, my friends decided to make one ...

Happy new moon 3

Jun

2011

Third solar eclipse this year, and a good time to set intentions for the coming month. I’ll be signing up for a cob building workshop September 10-18, and finally a PDC in LA! Hope to see you in one (of both) of these. The stars are aligning. We are learning lots about community living and ...

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised 2

Mar

2011

As I prepare for a few awesome posts I’ve got up my sleve, I’ll leave you with this very inspiring TED video from Michael Pawlyn. Using Nature’s Genius in Architecture. Biomimicry is the way… Related posts: Awesome read! Greening the dessert Rob Hopkins and Transition, a new way forward?

One more thing on the to do list

Feb

2011

I’ve been around clay since the time I was nine years old. Mostly sculpting up until I Junior College when I touched my first potter’s wheel and never sculpted again. I’ve been wanting to get back on the clay wagon, except now in a more building type of mode. Today I was looking about on ...

Rocket Stoves Rock!

Feb

2011

I’ve been looking into building one of these for a while now. Known as Rocket Stoves, they are a kind of improved biomass stove. In essence they use less fuel to burn longer, hotter and cleaner. There are many designs out there. Some like the sixteen brick rocket stove are simple to build, others ...