Science Hax (January 27, 2010)
"Those people have decided to create something unique and something that you don’t see everyday and yet it is cheap and it is built from a recycled materials.
"This house is one of the examples how home can be built without spending much money. This house has been built from a cheap recycled materials.
"But those people are not just savvy they are also pretty creative, you can see how some of the walls, doors and roof are mosaic-like decorated. And when you look it inside it looks really nice and makes you wonder who wouldn’t like to live there."
(from Science Hax, used w/o permission)
The article is mostly photos: over a dozen of them; good quality photography of interiors and exteriors.
Well, good for those folks.
They've done a very nice job of making a unique, personalized, and quite attractive home. And, it's something just about anybody could do: provided that they own a fair-sized tract of woodland, and can spend enormous amounts of time in hand-crafting a structure to live in.
Like I said, the result is a very nice house.
Even if someone had the clout it would take to get zoning variances in town for a building like that, not all that many people I know have that much free time. Myself included. Still, there was that college professor who built his own house, a few weekend's worth of work at a time. Over a period of a decade or so.
Kudos to the author, for not mentioning "sustainable." Not once. Of course, there wasn't that much text. It's a term I've been running into quite a bit, in descriptions of Earth-friendly, ecologically-conscious, and terribly green houses.
Acting as if Wood Grows on Trees
It makes sense, in a way. There's so much waste and lack of concern for sustainability. American contractors seem to think that wood grows on trees. Wait a minute - - - .Part of my attitude comes, I think, from living in Minnesota: where tree farming is part of the regional economy. And yes: wood is used so much in construction because it grows on trees. Literally. And has a very good strength/weight ratio: which is another topic.
Which reminds me of an article about an attractive beach house on the Oregon coast that generated more energy than it consumed. That's a part of the world where high temperatures are around 69 degrees Fahrenheit in August the average low in January is 38. (August 4, 2009) Where I live, in central Minnesota, we can go through temperature extremes like that in a day.
Green and Smart Aren't Opposites
Don't get me wrong: my household recycles, we're careful about what we use and how we use it, and I don't think it's a good idea to put an outhouse too close to the well. Not that we've used either in a generation or so.But I tend to cringe a little, every time I read that something's "green" or "sustainable." I've seen too many well-intentioned (I hope) efforts that either can't be scaled up (like the outhouse); or are too costly for any but the more affluent to afford.
On the other hand, every now and then, someone comes up with an idea that won't solve all problems - but works in some cases.
related posts:
- "Beach House is Energy-Efficient. Also Looks Cool"
(August 4, 2009) - "Solar Trees Top (Some) California Parking Lots"
(August 29, 2009) - "It's Green, it's Keen, it's a Teaching Dream! - Paperless Teaching"
(March 19, 2009) - "NASA Builds Cool Green Building: Uber-Efficient and All That"
(August 5, 2009) - "Techie Trellises: Really Green Buildings"
(August 29, 2009) - "Better Ideas From Japan: A Fuzzy Green Building"
(December 25, 2007) - "Green Roofs: a Good Idea"
(June 19, 2008) - "Cool, Yes; Green, Yes; Practical, Not Really"
(July 27, 2008) - "Sustainable High Fashion?"
(March 17, 2009) - ""Sustainable Furniture" - No Kidding"
(April 28, 2008) - "Big, Beautiful, Expensive Villa in Bali"
(November 23, 2008)- But it's "sustainable!"
