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Mudgirls tour Eco-sense house and O.U.R Ecovillage
February 15th, 2009
Vancouver Island has some inspiring sites for those interested in Alternative construction. I recently went on a tour with some Vancouver Island builders of two very interesting examples of sustainable architecture.
We visited the Eco-sense house located in the highlands just north of Victoria, BC, and I have to say it was the most fascinating cob home that I have seen and a great example of a fully functional and code approved cob dwelling. It was beautifully finished and contained endless examples of sustainable design.
The house was built completely of cob (sand, clay and straw), mixed by roto-tiller, and is an amazing example of an engineered loadbearing earthen structure. The walls rest on a concrete foundation, which in itself was innovative design. The house is powered by solar panels which draw power from the city grid during the winter months and give power back in the summertime! The property contained so many examples of great design that it was almost impossible to take them all in. ( It was the Disneyland of natural building!) The specs on the house were incredible. check it out at www.eco-sense.ca
The other stop on our tour was O.U.R. Ecovillage in Shawnigan Lake. We learned the fascinating history of the Ecovillage which is a sustainable learning centre and demonstration site. The property was originally a farm with a single house but was able to be rezoned through a long and transformative process which resulted in the inspiring place it is now. The Ecovillage contains great examples of permaculture design, and beautiful architecture incorporating recycled building materials and inspires and teached thousands of people annually. Visit them at www.ourecovillage.org
The folks at both Eco-sense and O.U.R. Ecovillage have worked tirelessly with building professionals and city officials to begin to revolutionalize the building code in BC. It was wonderful to see how this type of building can change hearts and minds!
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Introducing CDB’s Sand Wall
December 13th, 2008
A wall finish that looks like a west-coast beach!
Cost-Comparable to standard painting, this finish is quick, easy and dramatic. The colour of the sand is the colour of the wall, creating a completely natural surface. A scrumptious look that Just makes you want to press your face right up to it.
Hard and durable, this finish makes an excellent feature-wall and adds subtle texture and interest. It can be done over standard wall surfaces.
Best of all, it is completely non-toxic free of volatile organic compounds, and goes on with absolutely no odor whatsoever.
More Clay-based plasters
All natural clay based plasters use old school pigments to provide earthy tones such as this plaster mixed with Iron Oxide. Straw is added to the plaster to create an unforgettable texture.
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Energy Management, Indoor Environmental Quality and LEED
December 2nd, 2008
I had a friend of mine who is a renovations carpenter recently say to me that green builders really annoy them. The special materials are all over-priced, and require special ways of installing. Green building is currently in the process of being defined (please see the canadian green building council website www.cagbc.org ), but it generally does use some new engineered technologies and innovations that old school carpenters may not be familiar with, making it more expensive and more difficult to do. This raises the question of whether or not it is worth the added cost and trouble, that is if you can find someone who really knows how to do it.
Doing it properly is the key. Green building is meant to address all parts of the building simultaneously, creating a system that works together as healthfully and harmoniously as possible. Energy use, water use, and air quality are all important design elements, and all need to work together. This really requires a whole new way of designing buildings, and raises the question of how the new “green” building products can really integrate themselves into the old way of doing things. Using just one or two green building products to raise your buildings profile may be a hazardous proposal, and not to your benefit. Here is a story that may illustrate my point.
I went to a new “urban eclectic” condo development recently to look around. The units were well-priced, not too expensive at all, and modern looking. The sales person told me that they could not create affordable units using green building, but that they did go as far as to have triple paned LEED quality windows. (tapping the glass) As I walked around I noticed the new carpet, linoleum, adhesive attached plastic tub surround, mdf mouldings. Pretty much everything else in the building was as gluey and manufactured as you can get. I could smell the formaldehyde from the carpet. Suddenly the triple-paned barely-openable green windows made the condo seem like a death trap! Holy Shit! Get some fresh air in here people! I’m not a crazy person! Am I really the only one who can smell this?!
Green building, with LEED as its forerunner, is primarily concerned with efficient energy management. LEED stands for The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Using Energy efficiently is in itself is a noble cause, however the energy that it is using efficiently is often the same old fossil fuels. This is a recognized drawback to believing in LEED being the future of sustainable design. Sealing the building completely so that you can utilize every square inch of hot air your gas furnace or geothermal heating system pumps out seems to make sense to conserve energy but the danger is there, especially if you go halfway like the condo developers did, of trapping dangerous fumes inside your house with you.
Here are some questions to ask yourself when looking at green building products:
How is this made? What sort of chemicals does it contain? What sort of processing does it undergo?
Where is this made? How far did each component travel before getting here?
How is this really going to benefit me? and most importantly, How will this work with the rest of my building?
