Something that frustrates me to no end ((CRAPPY HOUSES!!! ]: I

Every week I see new houses being built, housing estates especially are spreading like wildfire, & what are housing estates packed to capacity with... houses of course, & virtually all of them are useless! I say that because they don't function as a house should. The people who live in these houses (more often than not) rely heavily on external heating & cooling devices, like air conditioners & heaters to stay comfortable throughout the year, & this of course costs money (don't even get me started on the complete lack of garden space)
Houses today are constructed using manufactured, often toxic materials, why are we doing this?! @_@ It drives me up the wall!!! How can people not realise that the paints they're spreading all over the walls of their home are full of harmful toxins, in fact many materials used today are, yet most people seem to be oblivious that the building they are living in, raising children in is toxic ]: ( Instead of considering how best to build a functional, healthy home we worry about having 5 enormous bedrooms & 3 bathrooms, & en-suites... wha?... We seem to be void of logic when it come to houses, we don't even consider which way the sun shines from & how best to orient our house to take advantage of it, quite honestly it hurts my head x___x'


Thankfully there are more & more people out there realising the illogical & ridiculous manner in which we continue to 'design' & build our homes & they have started applying simple, logical design, natural materials & observation to build houses which are functional & healthy. It's not overly complicated & it doesn't have to be expensive, it just takes a bit of thought & research.


So I've scribbled up a few very rough sketches to throw a few ideas out there, which i have learned through numerous DVD's, websites, books, friends, family, etc.

One of the first & most important things to consider (& yet no one seems to) is 'passive solar design', in other words, how to orient your house to take advantage of the sun! It's relatively simple, the sun rises in the East, sets in the West & shines from the North (from the South in the Northern hemisphere) In the summer the sun moves through a higher arch & during the winter the sun is lower in the sky & has a shorter arch. This means that rays of the sun shine in from different points throughout the day & throughout the year. Having a basic understanding of how this works, relative to where you live will help you decide how best to design & orient your house to prevent excess heat entering your house in the summer & yet allow more sunlight (& heat) in during the cold of winter.

Another idea to consider is thermal mass, & yet most houses seem to be built out of materials that are ineffective at capturing & storing heat... This is the best example I have ever seen to explain the basic workings of thermal mass. There are 3 jars in the image above, imagine the jars are like the walls of your house, one is filled with warm air, one with warm water & one is filled with warm water & wrapped in insulation (like a thermos) which one is going to stay warm for the longest when placed outside? The answer may seem obvious, & yet we continue to build houses in ways which completely ignore this logic.

This last sketch shows a number of basic ideas to consider when purchasing land &/or building a house. If people put a little more thought into how a house could be functional & healthy, rather than trying to make it as big & gaudy as possible we may actually be able to live more comfortable lives.


***Please bear in mind that these are just (very) rough, basic sketches & ideas, & that I am by no means an expert on this subject! If you are interested in learning about natural, functional houses please research thoroughly & educate yourself before making any decisions, but I really hope this gets people thinking about the awesome alternatives to the boring, unhealthy, expensive, mass produced, illogical brick boxes that are churned out day after day.


Here are some links which you may find helpful...
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Websites:
- earthship.org
- ilovecob.com
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Books:
- Comfort in any climate, by Michael Reynolds
- Water from the sky, by Michael Reynolds
- Permaculture: A designers manual, by Bill Mollison
- The hand-sculpted house, by Ianto Evans, Michael G Smith & Linda Smiley
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Videos:
- Cob buildings & permaculture design
- Earthships
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(as always I will update & add more links as I find/remember more :p)


Thanks for reading!
Ja ne.