The COVID-19 pandemic is highlighting the need for architecture to play by new rules. COVID-19 is causing dense, urban areas to lose their luster and making people rethink their lifestyles. Some are fleeing cities for the suburbs, others are taking up gardening, and the majority have stopped drivingas they stay close to home. Across
Can & Bottle Walls A can wall is a wall constructed from recycled aluminum cans, which are not a common building source. The cans can be laid in concrete, similar to bricks to make all kinds of strong walls and other partitions Cans can form the actual fill-in structure (or walls) of a
These walls systems are all solid walls made out of dense materials, of which the modern Brick, Block and poured concrete walls are the most common variety. Since these common variants are all have very low R-values, a fairly high embodied energy, and are familiar to most people, this discussion is about alternatives to
You don’t need to start from scratch to have a more efficient home. Find out how you can boost your home’s environmental credentials with some smart retrofits. Building regulations require today’s new homes to be more eco-friendly than ever before. But if, like most Australians, you’re not living in a freshly constructed home, you’ll
Passive House Buildings There is absolutely no cutting back on comfort; instead the level of comfort is considerably increased. A Passive House / Building is a building standard that is truly energy efficient, comfortable, affordable and ecological at the same time. Passive House / Building is not a brand name, but a construction concept that can be applied by anyone and
The Question of how a structural earth-rammed tire wall would do in a fire has long been an issue for which we could only offer an intelligent opinion. People think that because tire piles in tire dumps burn so easily and are so hard to put out, that an earth-rammed tire wall would be the same. Our answer has been to compare
The same method for building structural walls in buildings can be applied when building retaining walls made with rammed earth encased in steel-belted rubber. Depending on the load the retaining wall is retaining, the batter and other adjustments should be considered. Some tire retaining walls have been built up to 25 ft. high. Tires make an inexpensive solution that
Electricity free cooling based on ancient, global principles. These in-ground PVC cooling tubes are also known as air tubes, earth air tubes, a ground-coupled heat exchanger, an earth-air heat exchanger, thermal labyrinth, heat recovery ventilation, geothermal energy tubes, sustainability tubes, or a number of other terms. Cooling tubes are an efficient way to cool
Big cities and luxuries aren't for everybody. If you're someone who enjoys the outdoors and a simple life, maybe its time to consider moving off the grid. Its not just for criminals anymore. The Homes and Garden TV network has a show where regular couples and families looking for an adventure rent or buy
What is Affordable Housing? Conventional Guidelines advise 1/3 of income budgeted for housing. This can be looked at as an affordable amount to spend on housing. Affordable means something different for each and every one of us, so 1/3 of your income is different than 1/3 of the next person's income. Fed researchers looked
