Wikipedia disclosure

I am an avid fan of Wikipedia, and will frequently include links to Wikipedia entries for readers interested in additional info. The dynamic nature of the content (frequently and rapidly updated), as well as Wikipedia's accessibility (web-based) and usability (clean interface without advertisements or embedded tracking software) all appeal to me. In addition, I believe the crowdsourcing aspect, which relies on multiple content authors with potentially different perspectives, generally results in relatively balanced content.

Unfortunately, the nature of Wikipedia makes it susceptible to vandalism and content authors intent on promoting a personal or corporate agenda. As a result the primary complaint often seems to be Wikipedia's reliability. However, a 2005 study by the publication Nature indicated that Wikipedia scientific entries had a higher, but generally similar rate of "serious errors" as Encyclopaedia Britannica. I might even suggest that at least some of those inaccuracies are easy to spot because individuals promoting a specific agenda often do so with limited use of subtlety. While Wikipedia may not be the definitive source of knowledge, it is, in my opinion, often a good place to start.

Design Elements: Planter seat

As a boater and a tiny home enthusiast I appreciate anything that successfully serves multiple purposes such as this simple but effective planter bench seat (though the seat itself could be a little deeper). Relatively easy to construct with salvaged wood or inexpensive wood from your local lumber yard. One could even imagine storage under a deeper bench for tools and supplies used to maintain the integrated garden flora (ideally native species that require minimum energy and inputs). Google "planter seats" images and you'll see a variety of interesting designs.

While thinking about fertilizer for the planter flora it struck me that one could design an outhouse where human excrement is composted and then directly used as fertilizer in the integrated planter (containing non-edible plants to be safe). A multifunctional closed system containing an integrated outhouse (with rain catchment), composting system, and planter (with a few pungent plants) where use of the outhouse helps adjoining flora thrive.

Salvaged/Reclaimed building materials

Salvaged and reclaimed building materials can be found in a wide variety of places including salvage yards, job sites, craigslist and weekend garage sales. With enough time spent searching one can locate some amazing deals. Architectural salvage yards with their wide selection of building & landscaping materials can be a good starting place to get an idea of what's available, or if you simply don't have the time to search for that killer bargain. And you can generally drop off surplus/unwanted building materials there too. Here are a few of my favorite salvage yards in Northern California. I'll also post these in the Resources section, and I encourage others to send me suggestions including those from other regions.

• Building REsources (San Francisco): Good selection of salvaged doors, windows, sinks, tubs, toilets, etc. Nonprofit that also hosts workshops. Also has funky recycled glass for which I may someday find a use.
• Heritage Salvage (Petaluma): Great selection of reclaimed wood of all types. Also has doors, windows, etc. and plenty of oddities. Their web site does great job of listing inventory. Located in So. Sonoma County.
• Ohmega Salvage (Berkeley): Good selection of various building materials with an emphasis on "vintage" architectural materials. Web site does great job of listing inventory. Has an interesting collection of large carved stone deities.
• Urban Ore (Berkeley): Bay Area landmark whose 3-acre facility is split between an enormous warehouse with furniture, clothes, books, household items, etc. and an outdoor area with large selection of doors, windows, sinks, tubs, toilets, wood, etc. Close to Ohmega so it's easy to hit both.

Design Elements

While walking through my neighborhood recently I was intrigued by the simple yet relatively unique design of these exterior window shutters. They seem to fit in well because the design is similar to what your mind expects.

Mike Reynolds is far more than a "Garbage Warrior"!

I recently saw and thoroughly enjoyed the 2007 documentary film Garbage Warrior about the visionary architect Mike Reynolds, who developed and has been building "radically sustainable" earthship homes for decades. While his designs consistently and ingeniously employ "garbage" throughout, reuse is only one of the important aspects of his amazing work.

Of course, reuse of frequently discarded items is an integral part of earthship design, minimizing footprint and cost, as well as required construction skills. With the help of concrete, used cans and bottles become both structural and aesthetic elements, and used tires rammed with dirt from the site help form strong walls and act as thermal mass to store passive solar heat gain.

In addition to reuse, Mike Reynolds fully recognizes that properly designed homes can actually help actively sustain their occupants while simultaneously reducing costs and ongoing impact on the planet. Earthships are incredibly self-sufficient, providing their own power, heat, water (rainwater harvesting), sewage treatment, as well as year-round (indoor) food-growing capabilities. It's amazing that since the early 1970's Reynolds has been thinking, designing and building outside the box, literally and figuratively, of conventional architecture and homes, which generally seem inanimate compared to earthships. Through years of experimentation and design evolution, he and his company Earthship Biotecture have remained focused on structures which may look unorthodox, but are very deliberately designed to meet the needs of the occupants as well as the planet itself. I encourage you to see this film.

Deconstructing the home

Except for Oscar the Grouch and possibly a few others, most people have no desire to live in a dumpster. Nonetheless, it can be enlightening and informative to, as Gregory Kloehn does in this video, "deconstruct" what a home is and then incorporate only what is specifically required to function efficiently and be happy. Everyone has different requirements so this exercise can yield very different results, but you may find that your notion of what a home is has been largely shaped by "traditional" homes on the market and under construction. By focusing on individual needs rather than familiar patterns, you very well may find that a smaller, more unconventional home meets most or all of your needs, significantly reduces invested time and money, and, while not necessarily the case with this dumpster home, is actually more aesthetically pleasing.

My first wooden barrel!

This week I proudly welcomed into my home my first wooden barrel. Of course, humans have been making barrels for more than 2,000 years, but I find these oak barrels, still widely used for aging beverages such as wine and whiskey, to be a marvel of design and craftsmanship: curved wood, significant mobility given size, and watertight without caulking or glue!

I can think of several uses for an oak barrel including water catchment (rain barrel) and plant potter. However, I purchased this one, a ~60 gallon French oak cask made at Tonnellerie Rousseau in France and used locally by a friend to produce Pinot noir, because I hope to miraculously transform it into an ofuro (Japanese bath).  I'm not entirely certain at this point how that's going to happen, but I know I want warm/hot water, ideally solar-generated, and at least some circulation, while absolutely minimizing new holes in barrel, ideally utilizing only existing bunghole. I also need convenient, well-designed ingress and egress. Please feel free to comment as I am open to any and all ideas.

Silver Lake cabin

Labor Day Weekend I was hiking around Silver Lake, a beautiful alpine lake south of Lake Tahoe. The northeast shore has a lot of interesting cabins and homes nestled in the trees. This particular cabin caught my eye because it's relatively well integrated into its environment even though it's location in a boulder field with few trees actually left it more exposed than most cabins in the area.  However, its modest size, lack of a dedicated driveway, natural-looking lines, and materials which, at least in theory, could have been largely sourced from the vicinity make this cabin almost an extension of the environment.

Tardigrade House

The Tardigrade House, located in Berkeley (CA), immediately catches the eye with its biomorphic forms, further emphasized by relatively traditional, rectilinear homes in close proximity. Based on a tardigrade, an indestructible, microscopic critter that can survive in extreme conditions, this home is designed to withstand anything that might come its way. Constructed of recycled Styrofoam and cement blocks reinforced with concrete and steel into a relatively lightweight but stable lattice structure the house is, according to the designer who built it for his parents, waterproof, termite-proof, virtually impervious to fire and very earthquake-resistant.

While generally known locally as the "Fish House", the actual name is "Ojo Del Sol" or ("The Sun's Eye"). This refers to the 15 ft. south-facing, "eye-like" window that provides light and heat to the sunken rotunda living area where it radiates to adjoining spaces. Personally, I like passive solar design wherein solar heat (and natural light) initially strike a shared common area where people can congregate before radiating outwards to personal living spaces.

Eugene Tsui, the home's designer, clearly understands that nature with its time-tested engineering can effectively drive both form and function. In addition to the inextinguishable tardigrade, the Fish House design also apparently leverages nature's blueprints for the skeleton of the Cholla cactus, bone and capillary structures from a pair of dinosaurs (Stegosaurus and Dimetrodon), as well as seagull bone structure. Go here for more info and images.

Root cellar redux

Root cellars have historically been used to store a wide range of food and drink, including vegetables, meat, dairy, home-made beverages, etc. Relatively stable ground temperatures keep food from spoiling in the heat or freezing in the cold.

Root cellars appeal to me not just because of their efficiency (theoretically reducing or eliminating one of the largest household energy requirements: refrigeration), but also because of their aesthetics. They are, by nature, well integrated into the environment where they almost never dominate the landscape as other types of structures often do. And they're generally built with natural materials such as stones found on property.

While most residences probably don't need a large dedicated root cellar like the abandoned one depicted below, given the land a smaller multi-purpose root/wine cellar or community cellar might make sense. It's also interesting to think of incorporating functional and/or aesthetic aspects of the root cellar into other structures.

What drives home size?

Americans like large homes. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) the average size of a new single-family home has grown from 983 sq. ft. in 1950 to 2268 sq. ft. in 2006 (of course, waistlines have also grown significantly since 1950). While more recently the recession has helped slightly reduce the average square footage, homes in the U.S. are still enormous by global standards. Many people around the globe might even assume a home such as this one under construction in Connecticut (significantly larger than the national average, but similar in size to neighboring homes) is intended for dignitaries or members of a royal family.

I actually don't know the specifics of this particular home and it's possible that it's being built for an extended family of 12 people. However, more likely this home is being built "on spec" by a contractor and will eventually be inhabited by a relatively small American family. In such a case, the contractor would have paid a large sum for the land (and existing home if there was one) and wants to build the largest home possible to get the best return on investment. Of course, to realize that return the home must be sold and so there must be demand for such homes. What's drives demand for such large homes? Frankly, many people buy homes far bigger than what is required for their actual family size to demonstrate their status in society like some ancient ruler erecting an ornate palace as a signal and reminder of the ruler's power. Another factor may be a desire for isolation from the community (no need to go to town when your home boasts a media room, library, gym and commercial kitchen) and even from family members themselves (family interaction is minimized when every member has 1000 sq. ft. or more per person).

House vs. iPad

Tata, the huge Indian conglomerate who introduced the $2500 car, has now announced a similarly named $720 house that arrives as a kit and can be assembled in approx. 1 week. The 215 sq ft "Nano" house makes use of coconut or jute fibre. One correspondent noted that the Nano house was cheaper than your avg. iPad.

Lil' Rose

This diminutive boat has been docked at South Beach Harbor for some time now. Despite her small size, "Rose" has 2 wooden masts and would actually be classified as a yawl. I hope to see her under sail some day.

Not so tiny

This weekend I attended Tumbleweed's tiny house Design/Build workshop in Berkeley. Jay Shafer, the foremost tiny home thought leader (at least in my mind), presented the entire workshop and spent time on the final day looking at attendees' individual designs. It was a great opportunity to exchange ideas and collaborate with a range of other tiny home enthusiasts. In fact, I was a bit surprised by the sizable audience (~ 30 people) for a workshop that was added to the schedule relatively recently. Look out, we tiny homers are a growing, motivated, mobile (those building on wheels) force who is coming for you, or at least your unused property where we would like to construct a tiny home if it's OK with you.....?

Intentions

I should start by saying this is my first official blog and it will be a learning experience with the blog hopefully evolving to meet the interests of the readers. In the future I hope to have multiple authors contributing relevant content. Feedback, comments, as well as content ideas and requests are all appreciated. To provide some background here are the primary reasons for starting this blog:

1. I'm designing/building a tiny home on wheels and want to chronicle the process for friends, family and other interested parties. Ideally, this site will also be a platform where other tiny home/sustainable structure enthusiasts can communicate and collaborate.

2. In addition to tiny homes and sustainable structures, this site will include ideas and resources that help provide “shelter from the storm”. That could be anything from DIY videos, to a look at beekeeping best practices, or a detailed discussion of optimum foods to bring on extended backcountry trips. I'm certainly not an expert in every area and hope to hear from others and to facilitate online discussions.

3. This site is also an opportunity for me (and hopefully others in the future) to experiment with blogs and other related Web 2.0 technologies.

Again, I welcome feedback, comments and ideas.

What's in a name?

 “Oh, a storm is threat'ning

My life today

If I don't get some shelter

Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away”

         - "Gimme Shelter", The Rolling Stones

We all require some type of physical structure to protect us from the elements whether it be a liveaboard boat, a tiny home on wheels, or a poncho tarp tent for camping. Of course, it's not just the elements from which we need shelter, and while individuals may have their own personal needs, there are some common aspirations including reducing our individual and collective “footprint” and improving integration of the built environment and the natural environment.

I am particularly interested in sustainable structures, tiny homes, boats, hiking, camping, etc. and hope to create a forum for others with similar interests.