Category Archives: Green Building

Natural Building Workshops at Dancing Rabbit

Ziggy from Dancing Rabbit Eco-Village in Missouri asked me to post this re. building courses they are hosting next year: In 2012, my partner April and I are actually building a new straw bale & timber frame home, and we’re … Continue reading

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Roundwood Timber Framing

Book Review Roundwood Timber Framing Building Naturally using Local Resources Ben Law In the opening to Ben Law’s new book he describes the journey he has made in self-built dwellings: from bender- the simplest, almost stone-age dwelling made by pushing … Continue reading

Posted in book review, Green Building, Traditional skills, Trees, Yurts | 1 Comment

Natural Building at Kinsale College

The flagship project at the Kinsale College has always been the Cordwood Amphitheatre. This unique structure- the only load-bearing cordwood building that I know of- was constructed in about 2001 by Rob Hopkins and his permaculture students and has provided … Continue reading

Posted in Green Building, Kinsale, Permaculture | 7 Comments

Humble Homes, Simple Shacks

Book Review: Humble Homes, Simple Shacks, Cozy Cottages, Ramshackle Retreats, Funky Forts by Derek “Deek” Diedricksen After seeing a short film by Deek Diedricksen linked on Energy Bulletin, which demonstrates his ultra-tiny dwelling called the Hickshaw, I was inspired to … Continue reading

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Powerdown Toolkit #7: Shelter

Shelter- Future Proofing Our Homes and Buildings This is the introduction to  week seven of the Powerdown Toolkit 10-week community learning course created by the Cultivate Center in Dublin. It has an accompanying TV show with a 30-minute episode accompanying … Continue reading

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Kinsale College on YouTube

Kinsale College of Further Education has recently posted a new video promoting the course on You Tube. Click here to see the video which includes myself very briefly desribing the course modules, and a few shots of the college  gardens. … Continue reading

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Crash Course- Preparing for Peak Oil

Book Review Crash Course- Preparing for Peak Oil by Zachary Nowak Green Door Publishing 2008 Peak Oil is upon us, and collective action on a large scale seems unlikely. Technical solutions are chimerical. Each of us must decide what the … Continue reading

Posted in Food, Green Building, Overshoot, Peak Oil, Permaculture, Powerdown, survivalism | 1 Comment

Pizza Oven!

I am proud to present the brand new Earth Oven recently completed at Derryduff. Just last night Sherry and Andy joined me for the first trial run pizza making session, which was a great success and resulted in much happy … Continue reading

Posted in Food, Green Building | 3 Comments

Help needed on Cord-wood House

Update October 7th 2007: Jackie and Emma are now close to completing the walls on the house and have enough help at the moment, so thanks to all those who responded, but they may still need a hand in November. … Continue reading

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DIY Solar Panel

I have recently installed a DIY solar panel on the Permacabin (Timber framed cabin with all perma-cons): This has been constructed using clip-fins from CAT and following instructions in their booklet Solar Water Heating- A DIY Guide by Paul Trimby.

Posted in Green Building, Renewable Energy | 2 Comments