Alternative Construction
A. I. Domes - Geodesic Dome Homes Advanced Housing Technology - Housing technology has changed very little since framing replaced the log cabin. Modifications that have been made to improve the efficiency and strength, also increased cost. We applied some American Ingenuity to the "geodesic dome home", designed an all new component building system utilizing advanced kit home construction technology and developed a superior modular home plan without increasing the kit homes prices.Cob Building with Groundworks - Cob is best described as mud daubing. Earth, sand, and straw are mixed together and massaged onto the foundation, creating thick, long lasting, load bearing walls. It's like hand building a giant pot to live in. Furniture, alcoves, fireplaces, and shelves can be sculpted in as you build.
Cob Cottage Company - Cob has been used for millennia even in the harsh climates of coastal Britain, at the latitude of the Aleutians. Thousands of comfortable and picturesque cob homes in England have been continuously occupied for many centuries and now command very high market values. With recent rises in the price of lumber and increasing interest in natural and environmentally safe building practices, cob is enjoying a renaissance. This ancient technology doesn't contribute to deforestation, pollution or mining nor depend on manufactured materials or power tools. Earth is non-toxic and completely recyclable. In this age of environmental degradation, dwindling natural resources, and chemical toxins hidden in our homes, doesn't it make sense to return to nature's most abundant, cheap and healthy building material?
Colorado Yurt Company - At the Colorado Yurt Company we integrate a handcrafted wooden frame made from hand selected, stress rated lumber with state of the art industrial fabrics, to make our yurts strong and beautiful—and fully engineered— without losing sight of the simplicity, integrity, and beauty of the original Asian yurts.
DomeSpace International - Throughout time humankind has used circular architecture to construct places to live, work and worship. From igloos to African huts, the dome is one form of architecture that humanity has used over and over again. We can observe this same pattern in nature herself who has utilized the circular shape to create the shell of the sea urchin, the globe on which we all live, and the other planets of the galaxy. Because of its affinity to natural forms, the Domespace integrates perfectly with the earth and appeals to people around the world.
Earthship Biotecture - The Earthship is a completely independent globally oriented dwelling unit made from materials that are indigenous to the entire planet. The major structural building component of the Earthship is recycled automobile tires filled with compacted earth to form a rammed earth brick encased in steel belted rubber. This brick and the resulting bearing walls it forms is virtually indestructible.
Earthwood Building School (Cordwood Masonry) - Earthwood Building School is a small "mom and pop" business run by Rob and Jaki Roy. Rob, active in the alternative building field for 28 years, is the author of thirteen owner-building books and has conducted hundreds of workshops at Earthwood and throughout the United States.
Econ-O-Dome - Dome home kits for building domes and round homes since 1982.
The Great American Yurt Company - The Great American Yurt Company is one of the fastest growing yurt manufacturers in the United States. Our commitment to each customer is simple; the best yurt, made with the best materials, backed up by the best customer service.
House Alive! - House Alive! started as an organization in 2001. Its primary activity is to teach workshops in Natural building, natural design and appropriate technology.
New Energy Works/Timber Framing
Oregon Yurt Works - Yurts may be a new idea to some but what Genghis Khan started hundreds of years ago Oregon Yurtworks has refined into state-of-the-art modular round homes. What modern physics recognizes as the strongest simple shape, we feel is also the most striking to the soul - round homes feel great!
Owner-Built Homes and Barns - Since 1970, Shelter-Kit has produced high-quality, pre-cut, do-it-yourself kits for houses, cabins, barns, and garages.
Professional Dome Plans - Whether you're a professional home builder, a do-it-yourself type or you already own a dome home but would like a matching outbuilding or shop, Professional Dome Plans gives you the tools you'll need to successfully build a geodesic dome. The detailed shop drawings and simple formulas explain it all -- every length, every angle, every board.
Red Sky Shelters - It's part yurt and part dome. The Yome by Red Sky Shelters is an affordable portable living shelter.
Rainier Yurts - The serene, circular space and natural light of a Rainier Yurt seems to offer a more open connection to the natural world. Designed to be versatile, it can be rough hewn, or elegantly rustic. It will keep you warm in winter, and cool in summer. Year round, the superior engineering, materials and craftsmanship that go into a Rainier Yurt will keep you safe and secure anywhere you choose to raise it.
Surfin' Strawbale - The complete, unexpurgated, alphabetical, annotated compendium of strawbale construction.
Sustainable Architecture, Building and Culture - SustainableABC is devoted to: Developing a community of eco-conscious citizens; building bridges between the public and professionals in the fields of sustainable construction, architecture and environmental protection (eco-professionals); and developing tools for eco professionals to network with each other.
Underground Housing - Underground housing is a concept whose time has come again. Its advantages over above-ground housing are spectacular. It stays warm in the winter and cool in the summer. It blends in with nature rather than rearing above it. It can double the yard space in a city. To the neighbors it looks like a park. It is the most environmentally sound. It uses half the building materials. It is the safest form of housing: it is fire resistant, radiation resistant and is impervious to tornado and hurricane strength winds. It even does better in earthquakes.
Yurtco - Yutco yurts are available in sizes ranging from 8 ft. to 28 ft. in diameter, and every one is hand-crafted and uniquely designed just for you. Windows and doors, in styles and colours of your choice, are placed in locations to suit the landscape and your interior furnishings. Fully insulated to withstand freezing cold temperatures, yurts are ideal for year-round living, including cottages, offices, galleries, studios, meditation centres, ski cabins, classrooms, studios, retreats, gazebos and much more. Yutco yurts are constructed of the finest quality materials available and are engineered to withstand high winds and heavy snowloads.
The Yurt People - The Yurt People by definition consist of individuals and groups who dwell in and construct Yurts. Yurts are inherently different than other forms of shelter. The primary difference is that this form of architecture utilizes the ancient principles and wisdom of tension and compression used in the traditional felt covered Yurt. Through the efforts of the Yurt People, the Yurt has evolved using these same principles of tension and compression using modern earth friendly engineered materials. To yurt, is to dwell in a circle with social design.
Conflict Resolution
Coming soon...
General Information
BackHome Magazine - BackHome is the magazine that delivers useful do-it-yourself information on sustainable, self-reliant living.
Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical ideas for self-reliant living.
Countryside Magazine - Countryside is the truly original country magazine (established 1917) serving that branch of the Voluntary Simplicity movement seeking greater self-reliance (homesteading), with emphasis on home food production.
The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) - The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), formed in 1971, is the oldest and largest state organic organization in the country. The purpose of the Association is to help farmers and gardeners grow organic food, protect the environment, recycle natural resources, increase local food production, support rural communities, and illuminate for consumers the connection between healthful food and environmentally sound growing practices.
Mother Earth News - The original guide to living wisely.
Small Farmer's Journal - A small family-held company doing business in agricultural periodical and book publishing, natural farming and stock raising, alternative farm research/inquiry, horsedrawn implement research & development horsedrawn equipment sales, and related education.
Permaculture
Permaculture.org.au - Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the harmonious integration of landscape and people providing their food, energy, shelter, and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. It is also the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability and resilience of natural ecosystems.The Permaculture Research Institute (PRI), headed by Geoff Lawton, is a non-profit organisation involved in global networking and practical training of environmental activists. It offers solutions to local and global ecological problems, and has an innovative farm design in progress. The Institute is also involved in design and consultancy work, and actively supports several aid projects around the world.
Fukuoka Farming - Masanobu Fukuoka was born in 1914 in a small farming village on the island of Shikoku in Southern Japan. He was educated in microbiology and worked as a soil scientist specializing in plant pathology, but at the age of twenty-five he began to have doubts about the "wonders of modern agriculture science."
While recovering from a severe attack of pneumonia, Fukuoka experienced a moment of satori or personal enlightenment. He had a vision in which something one might call true nature was revealed to him. He saw that all the "accomplishments" of human civilization are meaningless before the totality of nature. He saw that humans had become separated from nature and that our attempts to control or even understand all the complexities of life were not only futile, they were self-destructive. From that moment on, he has spent his life trying to return to the state of being one with nature.
Sustainable Technology
Coming soon...
Sustainable Tools and Goods
Cumberland General Store - Cumberland General Store was established in 1974 in Homesteads, Tennessee near the town of Crossville. Homesteads was one of several communities formed during the Great Depression as a way to give folks a way to live a better life through hard work, determination, and a helpful spirit. These same qualities have been part of Cumberland General Store since the beginning. For over thirty years, Cumberland General Store has provided old time merchandise many people have found useful but hard-to-get. Our slogan, "Goods in Endless Variety for Man and Beast," shows our commitment to provide quality products in the old-fashioned style.Falcon-Wood: Your Source for Old Woodworking Tools
Lehman's - Founded by Jay Lehman in 1955 to serve the local Amish and others without electricity, Lehman's ships old-fashioned, high-quality merchandise all over the world. Jay's vision was to preserve the past for future generations. "I was concerned that some day the Amish would not be able to maintain their simple ways of life because these products would no longer be available," he said. His goal was, and still is, to provide authentic, historical products to those seeking a simpler life.
.