Earthship New Zealand

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Category Archives: Other eco-building NZ

April Internship

This is your chance to participate in a 3 week internship on the beautiful Waiheke Island learning a diverse range of skills centred around alternative methods of building and integrated off-grid systems.

There will be a range of interesting and informative experiences over the course of the internship.  specifically we will be working a cob studio with a reciprocal roof and working towards finish renders and work with native and hard wood timbers. This internship is for those wanting to gain skills and knowledge in natural building specifically as we will be working in a small team of 4-5 working full time hours during the week.

This is not a facilitated workshop, instead this is an experience to live and work on an eco village, create with your hands, share food & knowledge, collaborate with other like minded people and share a space for inspired learning. Living costs are $90 per week and accommodation is the individuals responsibility (tent or similar) and they must commit to the full 3 weeks (11th – 28th April). Your teachers are Rosa Henderson from Sculpted Earth (earth builder – Sculpted Earth), Don Stodart (sculptor and woodsmith) and Leif Stodart (landscaper and stone mason).

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Please register your interest by email rosa.scarlette@gmail.com by April 3rd 2016.

The ISBC – a boost for the NZ Natural Building Movement

International Straw bale and Natural building Conference 2016 – Methven

The ISBC happens only once every 4 years, and this month New Zealand got a chance to host it for the first time. A full 5 day event with 200 participants (20%  were international, and 80% Kiwi’s), including property developers, building officials, architects, engineers, natural building professionals as well as students and academics.  With international and local speakers presenting every day, plus a workshop space outside and evening entertainment, it was a busy hub! This is great for New Zealand sustainable building, a perfect place to share ideas, network, participate and get hands on experience.

Mainstream product manufacturers also showed up – Rockcote (earth and lime renders) Terra Lana (natural wool insulation) and BBS Timbers (solid timbers) – definitely suppliers to the general construction industry and show that straw and earth building are entering the mainstream.

For me it was important to hear our local speakers, especially Graeme North, Verena Merder ( from solid earth), Sven and Sarah Johnston (from Sol Design) as well as Bruce King (USA), Barbara Jones (UK), Craig White (UK), Rachel Beven (Ireland) and the auzbale team (AUZ) to get diverse experience and perspectives.

The other heigh light was getting to see/touch/experience

*strawbale wall construction and trimming

*earthern plasters, lime plasters (over a variety of substrates) and murals

*laying mud bricks, strength testing for mudbricks and interior brick vaneer walls

*hempcrete

*Making an earthen pizza oven start to finish

*rammed earth

*tadelakt

*soil sampling and clay testing

*light clay straw (light earth)

 

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Here are some links that you may enjoy:

proposal for an international natural building standards by Paul Jaquin

Sol Design, (strawbale in NZ), Solid Earth (earth building in NZ), Sculpted Earth (earth building & workshops in NZ), YIMFY (appropriate technology centre), and EBANZ (Earth Building Association of NZ)

Huge thanks for the Organising team, to EBANZ and to everyone involved in this event, rocked it!

 

Rosa Henderson

 

The Biggest Advance in Recycled Buildings Materials since the Rammed Earth Tyre

BUILDING WITH PALLETS WORKSHOP, Nelson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I would seriously commend this to anyone who can make it.  Mark is a visionary with the professional skills to back it up.  Check out his website for some pictures of what he can do – Ed.

Learn how to construct safe, durable and comfortable buildings from wooden pallets and other recycled waste materials.

Courses will be run when sufficient numbers have registered.
3/34 Vanguard Street, Nelson (Next to Vertical Limits)

Mark Fielding, director of Solabode Ltd, a Licensed Building Practitioner and eco home designer with over 30 years’ experience will teach you all there is to know, such as sourcing materials, using tools and various construction techniques for building sheds, cabins and even homes from:

  • wooden pallets as structure,
  • waste polystyrene for insulation,
  • old carpet for linings coated with clay paint, and
  • old corrugated iron for cladding.

Friday evening will be discussion only from 5pm to 9pm. Saturday 9am to 5pm will be hands on making pre-fab wall panels with Sunday 10am – 5pm hands on construction of a small building. Printed handout notes on all aspects taught will be included. Tea and Coffee provided only. Places limited to 12.

Cost: $165.00 Including GST
Contact Name: Mark Fielding
Contact Email: mark@solabode.co.nz
Phone number: 03 5468760
Website: www.ecotect.co.nz/pozie.html

Off-grid biosphere concept for Taupo

Taupo has been earmarked as the spot for the “Biosphere of the 21st century” with plans to build an off-grid housing community.

But, unlike its flower power forebears, hippies need not apply to the scheme, the brainchild of the New Zealand Clean Energy Centre.

“There is probably a perception that what you are going to end up with is a bunch of hippies, but rather our target will be white collar workers,” said the centre’s CEO, Rob McEwan.

The pool of potential community dwellers would include Kiwis and those from overseas.

“For instance, young, affluent Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are scouting around New Zealand at present looking for land,” Mr McEwan said.

“They are looking to get out of the US, live in a community with good water resources and establish a sustainable and `local’ lifestyle.” New Zealand could “easily” rise to be the No1 choice for them, Mr McEwan said.

“We are politically neutral, almost 80 per cent of our electricity is generated from renewables, we have ample water and we are friendly to Americans.

“So then the question for Taupo becomes how can we lure them to our community?”

A survey is being conducted by the centre to gauge interest in the concept, he said, and it could get off the ground as soon as a suitable developer comes on board.

The communal vegetable gardens and septic tanks will still be there, he said, but so too will be some of the mod cons of our futuristic lifestyles, including wi-fi internet and telephone services.

“This is about attracting people who have disconnected from the world, so to speak, who need only their laptop and smartphone to work and can travel anywhere and still work,” Mr McEwan said.

The development would comprise half-acre sections and the actual houses would be simple designs that resemble any ordinary Waikato development.

The family-style homes would be heated via geothermal or biomass sources, and electricity supplied via solar or wind energy.

Wastewater would be drip irrigated to energy crops that would provide future fuel for the community. Water would be supplied via rainwater collection.

“The large section would allow for things like large garden spaces, which could be private or shared, and septic tanks,” he said.

And how much would a slice of green living go for? “It is an unknown cost at this stage, but part of the vision is providing affordable housing.

“We would be looking at a range of homes, all under $500,000.” Owners would also have to pay about $60,000 for renewable energy technology add-on costs, he said.

Off-grid biosphere concept for Taupo | Stuff.co.nz.

Masterton home eco-aware – Wairarapa Times-Age

Steven Slothouwer moved to New Zealand about five years ago with his wife Elke Blommers and their now 11-year-old son in search of an adventure, and found themselves building an eco-friendly house framed by green hills down a long country road in Masterton.

A month after completing the solar-powered house, Steven is running a course on sustainable living, in which he will share his experiences, encourage others to share theirs and learn more about the environment and how to limit their impact on it.

“It’s good to have a group like this to stimulate change because there are a lot of small things you can do, and if you have a lot of people doing them, it can make a big difference.

“I will give people who come to the course an overview of what’s going on globally and then take a step back so we can discuss what you can do at home.”

In a group of 10 to 15 people, there will be eight weekly workshops on energy efficiency, waste minimisation, gardening with nature, organic vegetable growing, eco-building, water use, avoiding stream pollution, transport and community resilience.

“A lot of this is common sense, but some people just don’t know where to start. Living like this makes sense, especially in these times when money is tight.

read the full article via Masterton home eco-aware – Local News – Wairarapa Times-Age.

NZ Eco-Build Construction & Materials photo gallery

Follow this link to check out Golden Bay Hideaway.

This is Lawrence McIntyre’s “Little Greenie” recently awarded the highest energy rating of any house in NZ.  Its fantastic to see a great array of local materials and products used, combined with the latest technology from Europe and afar.

Its a great run through of the build process – enjoy!

Rob

‘Little greenie’ runs heating on $41 a year – Life & Style – NZ Herald News

Annually $41 should provide heat and hot water to New Zealand’s highest-rated energy efficient home.

Add LED lights, extra insulation and a modest size, and total electricity bills should be about $20 a month.

Owner Lawrence McIntyre hopes people will visit the house, his “little greenie”, and see they could build one themselves.

“The difference between insulating a house the way I have and the way another house is, is probably only $3000 to $4000 and the insulation value is more than double,” he said.

High quality double-glazed windows stop heat escaping, along with wool insulation and a polystyrene break to stop the concrete floor touching the ground. Sun-warmed air is directed into the walls for storage and to release heat.

The Energy Rating Authority worked out it would cost less than $50 for hot water and to heat the house to about 20C all year. The need for heating was about 85 per cent lower than an average new house, and about 97 per cent lower than an uninsulated house.

Mr McIntyre said the extra features would more than pay for themselves over their lifetime. “Really we need to move away from this [idea we should have a] pay-back period of five or seven years because the health benefits [of warm houses] … are huge.”

For more information, go to goldenbayhideaway.co.nz and eeca.govt.nz

via ‘Little greenie’ runs heating on $41 a year – Life & Style – NZ Herald News.

Sustainable Habitat Challenge 09: Building a Better Way

SHAC09 describes itself as…

“a national collaborative project for teams around New Zealand to design, develop, and build sustainable housing in their local community“

It’s a fantastic project that is bringing together some of New Zealand’s best architectural talent with the intent of making  low-energy, low-resource housing a reality for New Zealand.  Be sure to check out the main SHAC website http://www.shac.org.nz as well as the individual team websites.