Papercrete

As I have watched people experience failure with Strawbale construction because they take too long and don't protect their bales, I have been looking for alternatives. Here is one idea Papercrete and a description from http://www.livinginpaper.com/#introduction

"Papercrete construction involves using waste paper for affordable, sustainable housing. In the United States, we discard enough paper each year to build a wall 48 feet high around the entire perimeter of the country. Even though about 45 percent of discarded paper is recycled annually, 55 percent or 48 million tons of paper is thrown away or goes into the landfills. Figuring conservatively, it takes about fifteen trees to make a ton of paper."

Another information source is Mason GreenStar.

Building Saskatchewan Green

Building Saskatchewan Green was a great success! Over 600 attended Thursday evening for a great Tradeshow and Mike Holmes, along with conference delegates in workshops Friday. For event pictures and/or to read bloggers notes on the workshops take a look at http://www.buildsaskgreen.ca/

Craik Enviro Village in November

We have had one of the most beautiful, warm Octobers in Saskatchewan history and thank goodness because it allowed for work to continue on the Round house in Craik. This is another variation of strawbale housing, which I wrote about previously. Hopefully, they will be able to close the building in before winter. I have a deep affection for round dwellings, so I am eagerly anticipating the completion of this endeavor.

When I went to take a closeup of the Round house, I discovered the underground house. Another interesting approach to the harsh Prairie climate. This building looks like it will be completed soon.

Craik Enviro Village in October

The town of Craik has offered inexpensive land to people who are willing to built environmentally friendly housing. At the beginning of October 2008, I took the following pictures. This is how the village looked from the Saskatoon/Regina highway. Two buildings stand out, a traditional rectangle and the frame of a round house.

The rectangle house closer up seems to be a very large, traditional structure. I heard that it might be a new school for international students??

The round house.

The RiverGreen Ecovillage in Saskatoon

RiverGreen aims to meet the exacting LEED-Platinum standard of the Canadian Green Building Council, ensuring outstanding environmental performance. Features like solar water heating, high-efficiency district heating, natural cooling, and rainwater harvesting will dramatically reduce resident's ecological footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. http://www.prairie-ecovillage.org/ or http://www.rivergreen.ca/