Our June meeting will be on the third Sunday, at 10:30 am—Juliet and David have kindly invited us to their lovely home.
STRAW BALE HOUSE TOUR—Solar and Wind Powered!
Announcing a Tour of our 10-year-old solar and wind powered straw bale house located in Dummerston, Vermont. Featured in The New Straw Bale House, our all natural, locally grown, chemical free, Earth Sweet Home house (named for our non-profit) is frequently on the Solar Home Tour in October. This Summer tour is open to members of the Brattleboro Food Co-op and members of BANG, the Brattleboro Area Natural-building Group. The date is June 18th—Father's Day—at 10:30 am. Please come on time for a tour and a discussion of straw bale life "off the grid."
We are a family of two parents and two kids, we run a business from our home and homeschool our older child here. This is a fully functional house with all the "modern conveniences"—a dishwasher and clothes washer, office equipment, computers, etc. When we built our house ten years ago we "pushed the envelope" with regard to straw bale building practices at that time—now many of our techniques are considered standard for Straw Bale building in our climate. As we go into building a new structure on our property we can tell you our mistakes from last time around, and the many things we are planning to do again.
If you are interested in coming on June 18th, please contact BANG at <mudhome [at] netzero [dot] net> or the co-op for directions to the house.
From: Tad Montgomery
Subject: Mud & Roots Strawbale Studio
SIRIUS COMMUNITY ::
ECOVILLAGE EDUCATION PROJECT
Come get messy, learn, and have fun!
***MUD & ROOTS Strawbale Studio Workshop***
**Saturday, June 3, 2006**
*10:00 am - 6:00 pm (Optional Yoga starting at 9:00 am)*
Instructors: Bruce Davidson, Ernesto Santamaria, Will Savitri, Kelly Savitri, Adin Maynard
Come learn about strawbale building and earthen plastering while we finish our new Art Studio!
Enjoy roots reggae music and organic vegetarian lunch! Vegan options available for lunch.
We will get messy, so dress accordingly.
Cost: $25 includes lunch (or $35 with optional dinner)
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
email: education@siriuscommunity.org
phone: 413-253-9404 (ask for Charles or Sarah)
Location: Sirius Community, 72 Baker Rd., Shutesbury, MA 01072
For more information about our season of amazing ecovillage-based workshops, please email us at education@siriuscommunity.org.
To: cordwood@yahoogroups.com
From: "danghostshrimp" danghostshrimp@yahoo.com
we are currently cutting, debarking, and stacking wood for a cordwood studio in southern new hampshire. we work tues, wed, thurs. if anybody is interested in helping out we could use it! email us at danghostshrimp@yahoo.com
From: Jonah Vitale-Wolff
Subject: upcoming natural building workshops
Hudson Valley Natural Building (HVNB) is offering a series of workshops over the coming months. For a full workshop listing, check out the website www.hvnb.net, and there will be more to come.
The two latest are on natural finishes:
Earthen Plasters for New Walls
June 24-25, 2006
Alis Painting, Fine Clay and Milk based Paints
July 15-16, 2006
The workshops are being offered independently of one another, but complement each other very well for those looking to gain a comprehensive perspective on natural finishes. If you are registering for both at once there is a 10% cost reduction.
Earthen Plaster for New Walls
Saturday, June 24 � Sunday, June 25, 2006
Learn to make your building materials from scratch with inexpensive or even free materials. Stop depending on the fossil fuel driven building industry. Earthen plasters are practical for nearly all plastering or sheetrock applications, while being completely non-toxic and fun.
This is a BEGINNER LEVEL hands-on workshop in a newly renovated brownstone in the historic Mansion Neighborhood of Albany, NY. We will plaster a brand new wall with locally harvested materials in place of hanging wallboard. When finished, the space will serve as the office for the Emmaus House. You will leave this workshop feeling confident about mixing your own earthen plasters with for a variety of projects and applications.
During this workshop you will:
Make plaster from scratch with locally harvested clay
Learn base and finish coat plasters
Use a variety of tools, from trowels to your hands
Space is limited to 7 people.
Pre-registration required ($25 non-refundable goes towards registration).
Cost for the workshop is $75-125 sliding scale. Includes lunch, tea, coffee, and snacks.
Alis Painting
Saturday, July 15 � Sunday, July 16, 2006
HVNB is offering a workshop on fine clay and milk-based paints, known as alis (pronounced "a lease"), in the Mansion Neighborhood of Albany, NY.
This is a start to finish project where you will learn to:
prepare materials
mix alis from raw materials
apply the paint on a variety of surfaces
customize the mix meet the needs of your project
We are yet to find surface that alis does not cover. Succesfull wall and ceiling applications include drywall, latex and oil paint, cinder blocks, and wall paper. I was actually just invovled in alising a room with fake wood pannelling. And it turned out beautifully!
Alis paint is a beautiful traditional finish for adobe buildings, ranging from the southwest USA to north Africa that has lasted for centuries. Now, alis is far more than just a traditional wall covering. It is used on conventional and naturally built projects. Alis can be spiced up with the addition of natural pigments, different textures of sand, and mica to get a custom looking finish. In addition to being beautiful, alis is also completely non-toxic, incredibly cheap to make, and easy to do.
Space is limited to 7 people.
Pre-registration required ($25 non-refundable goes towards registration).
Cost for the workshop is $75-125 sliding scale. Includes lunch, tea, coffee, and snacks.
Hope to see you there.
Jonah Vitale-Wolff
Hudson Valley Natural Building
(518) 434-8010 jonah@hvnb.net www.hvnb.net
Hudson Valley Natural Building
Based in urban Albany, NY, Hudson Valley Natural Building (HVNB) is a community-based artisan company that focuses on the application of natural building in the urban setting, through custom renovation and landscaping, educational workshops, and community work. HVNB uses natural building practices and materials as a sustainable alternative to conventional methods.
At HVNB we use local clay, sand, straw, recycled paper, salvaged wood, and other reclaimed construction materials to make our custom projects beautiful and sustainable. As a result, our projects are completely non-toxic, safe, and inclusive of anyone who wants to join in the fun.
From earthen plasters to garden walls, all of the work of HVNB is customized to reflect the needs of each client, community and project.
Jonah Vitale-Wolff is an Albany-based natural builder and carpenter. He has recently been working with natural finishes in urban renovations. Hudson Valley Natural Building (HVNB) offers educational workshops as well as contracting. Projects include earthen plasters and paints for a variety of surfaces, cob, living roofs, and adobe.
From: "PeaceWeavers" pw@peaceweavers.com
Subject: Natural Building Colloquium - Bath NY!
Don't miss this year's East Coast Natural Building event...
Building with Spirit 2006!
a regional Natural Building Colloquium
Wed. Aug. 2 - Sun. Aug. 6, 2006
Thunder Mountain Retreat Center, Bath NY
special guest presenter:
MALCOLM WELLS
"godfather of underground architecture"
Building with Spirit is a hands-on event with an emphasis on natural building in the northeastern climate.
Join us as we gather with the foremost builders, designers and cutting edge presenters to explore new and traditional building systems through exciting workshops, demonstrations and seminars. Team up with others to get hands on experience on structures that were created during the 2004 & 2005 NBC-E. Yoga and Meditation are also included in this incredible community event.
PRESENTERS:
Laura Bartels - Dan Chiras - Kiko Denzer - Sam Droege - David Eisenberg - Sigi Koko - Sarah Machtey - Chris Magwood - Darren Molnar-Port - Mark Piepkorn - Ed Raduazo - Rob & Jaki Roy - and more to come!
Get Hands on Experience with:
Strawbale
Cob
Cordwood
Plaster & Natural Finishes
Log Cabin Construction
Timber Framing
Megalithic Stone Raising
Workshops, Demos & Presentations:
Earth Sheltered Buildings
International Building Projects
Renewable Energy
Alternative Fuels
Building Codes
Straw Clay Infill
Building with Hemp
Passive Solar Design
Thatching
Solar Energy
and more!
Registration*: 50% Deposit due at time of registration - Balance on July 15
Adults (18+):
by May 1 $320
by June 1 $340
by July 1 $375
College Students:
by May 1 $220
by June 1 $240
by July 1 $275
Youth (5-17 must be accompanied by an adult):
by May 1 $120
by June 1 $140
by July 1 $175
Visa/MC/Discover/AMEX accepted.
Deposit & Registration fees, less a $100 processing fee, may be refunded until July 15, 2006.
No refunds after this date.
*Registration includes: Participation in all workshops, seminars, presentations, all community activities and events associated with the Colloquium. Camping with basic facilities and vegan meals provided on site. (Hotels and motels available nearby.)
(Presenters, workshops & presentations are not final and subject to change.)
Here's a whole bunch of photos that BANGers Sarah and Mark took at the last couple of these Building With Spirit thingies.
To: bang@lists.riseup.net
From: housewright@ponds-edge.net
Subject: [BANG] NEW CLASSES AT YESTERMORROW
THREE NEW BUILDING COURSES AT YESTERMORROW DESIGN/BUILD SCHOOL, WARREN VT
Yestermorrow Design/Build School is offering three new courses taught by Robert Riversong, a long-time practitioner of super-efficient building techniques.
"The Sun-Tempered Super-Insulated Home" will be a hands-on week-long class held from June 4 through June 10, and will include both classroom presentation and discussion as well as on-site work building a super-insulated cottage.
This class will explore various super-insulation strategies � examining the pros and cons of each � but will focus on the one I have found to meet all the criteria for a sustainable and healthy building system. These criteria include: conventional construction, efficient use of forest resources and recycled material, minimal use of non-renewables, uninterrupted thermal blanket, breathable, fire/insect/rodent/mildew resistant, healthy indoor environment, and cost-effective. This system is the modified Larsen truss system using native lumber, cellulose insulation and passive solar design. A moderate-sized home can be heated with less than a cord of wood per year, with about half the heat load supplied by the sun. Such a house is uniformly comfortable and quiet in winter, naturally cool in summer, and well-ventilated without high-tech equipment.
This will be a hands-on class helping to build the thermal envelope of an off-grid cabin. In addition to the daily field work on the project, the class will explore the principles of heat loss and heat gain in building envelopes, the characteristics of insulation materials and insulation systems and their effects on the living environment. You will learn to perform a heat-loss analysis on a wall section and an entire house plan and calculate the solar and internal gains from passive strategies. We will consider the embodied energy of building materials as well as their contribution to future energy savings, health effects of materials and design, the importance of ventilation both inside and outside the thermal envelope, and the efficient use of forest products in building design and construction.
On the weekend of August 26-27, an abbreviated class-room only version will offer a broad orientation to "Energy and Resource Efficient Design and Building".
This class will introduce � with lecture, slides, and demonstrations � the principles of heat loss and heat gain in building envelopes, the characteristics of insulation materials and insulation systems, and explore a variety of energy-efficient design details and their effects on the living environment. You will learn to perform a heat-loss analysis on a wall section and an entire house plan and calculate the solar and internal gains from passive strategies. We will consider the embodied energy of building materials as well as their contribution to future energy savings, health effects of materials and design, the importance of ventilation both inside and outside the thermal envelope, and the efficient use of forest products in building design and construction.
And a one-day class, "The Zen of Building", held on June 3, will offer both old-time wisdom and new-age approaches to a happy and healthy worksite.
A house is only as good as its foundation, the old timers say, and a building project needs a foundation of safe and efficient practices in order to achieve that ineffable "Quality". Whether you're a novice or an experienced builder, you can benefit from tips, techniques, and methods for "working smart, not working hard". In many years of building with small crews, large volunteer groups, and alone, I have developed systems to optimize safety and to maximize efficiency of effort while maintaining a safe and pleasant worksite. You will learn ways of implementing the POS approach to building (planning, order, safety) and avoiding the NEG approach (neglect, entropy, gravity) so that you can do the most with the time and energy you bring to the building project and leave each day with all your body parts (and your sense of humor) intact.
From geodesic domes in the 1970s and a homestead project in rural Maine in 1981, Robert has worked as a project manager, trainer, and consultant for non-profit building programs from inner-city Boston to the hollers of Tennessee. Settling into a groove with passive solar and super-insulated buildings, and trying several different wall systems, Robert developed a native lumber, hybrid timber frame, modified Larsen Truss, healthy house system which can be heated for less than $200 per year. One of his design-build projects received a Citation for Excellence in a national energy-efficient design competition, and another included the first Massachusetts-approved indoor site-built composting toilet.
Robert has also worked as an outdoor experiential educator and wilderness guide, a ritual leader and rites-of-passage facilitator, and a spiritual midwife for people in transition.
From: Matthew Harris <matthew@solarenergy.org>
Subject: Natural Building Workshop-- Upstate New York
This Summer Join SEI for a unique workshop experience at Camp Epworth in High Falls, New York: Designing & Building Natural Homes. This course covers the opportunities and evolving variations within the field of natural building. Architects, builders, home-owners and students will gain an excellent introduction to the art and science of natural building materials, techniques, and design considerations, while also getting their HANDS-ON, with straw bale, adobe, pressed block, cob, natural plasters and more. Designing & Building Natural Homes is for home owners in the pre-design stage; architects, builders, designers and contractors; and for anyone interested in this vast field of study.
This engagement starts on Monday August 7th finishing on Friday August 11th. Sign up before June 12th and pay the early-bird price of $575.
Don�t miss out on this wonderful opportunity to learn Natural Building techniques in beautiful Upstate New York!
For more information about this class and all others visit SEI on the web at www.solarenergy.org or call us at 970.963.8855 for workshop details or to register.
From: <ce@the-bac.edu>
Subject: BAC's Sustainable Design Program online courses
The Boston Architectural Center's Continuing Education Department is offering the Sustainable Design Certificate Program entirely online as well as on campus, in partnership with BuildingGreen, Inc. All courses are led by practicing design professionals and experts in green building.
This summer the BAC is offering five sustainable design courses online:
Sustainable Design as a Way of Thinking
High Performance Design and the LEED Rating System
Site Design, Landscaping and Site-Water Issues
Green Practice: Energy and Air Quality Principles
Environmental Systems
The summer courses are starting on June 5th and run for 8 weeks; they may be taken individually, or applied to the Sustainable Design Certificate.
For course descriptions, instructors' bios and registration information, please visit http://green.the-bac.edu/. For questions please call 617.585.0164, or email ce@the-bac.edu.
