Building With Awareness
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A straw bale house in the snow

An Introduction To Green Building

The purpose of this website is to inspire thought on what is called Green building. What this website is about might also be described by what it is not about. It is not about the the right versus the wrong way of doing things. It is not about judging one approach as being better than another approach in all instances. It is about being aware of both the pros and cons of any given idea or system and then making a decision based on that knowledge.
We now live in a time of tremendous technological advances. Some feel that technology will solve all of the challenges we face. Others feel that technology is creating many of our problems and that we should turn back the clock to what is perceived as simpler times. Most likely, the solutions lie somewhere in between. We need to look back and ahead. There is a benefit to both. This is what is called appropriate technology. It is using what is appropriate for the problem at hand. It might be framing a roof out of large diameter bamboo instead of dimensional lumber or steel. It might be using a microchip in the faucet of a public restroom to automatically turn the water on and off to conserve resources.
There is something elegant about building a house with adobe (unfired bricks of mud) and generating the electricity for the house with a series of photovoltaic cells on the roof. These thin silicone wafers convert sunlight into electricity without any moving parts or the need for fossil fuels. The adobe helps moderate temperature extremes and naturally gives way to beautiful forms and spaces, even when applied by people with no previous building experience. Both materials are being used for what they do best. It is the merging of high tech and low tech that gives us a product that is greater than the sum of its parts.
This awareness is also being alert to what the global impacts are in regard to the type of car we drive and what it uses for fuel.
It is about understanding that there is no such thing as a "waste product" – only too much of one element where it is not needed.
It is also about truly seeing the environment we live in – both the visual and the physical.
It is understanding why being in some spaces gives us a feeling of contentness and peace while others make us feel restless.
Designing our visual surroundings is many times overlooked, particularly in regards to the psychological impact it has on us. Visual design is as important as the technology employed to invent energy efficient transportation and buildings. We can have both.
On another scale, it is knowing what keeps the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer, other than just turning the dial on the thermostat.

With the house featured on this website, it is knowing that electricity is being generated cleanly from panels on the roof. It is knowing that on rainy days the cistern is being filled with clean water that will be used for weeks into the future.
It is being aware that the sun-generated electricity is running a pump that brings water from a buried aquifer up to the shower in the morning. It is knowing that shower water does not just disappear down a drain as waste water. This water can be naturally filtered by plants and then reused in the garden and for flushing the toilet. Water is recycled, just as it is in nature.
On cold, clear winter days the sun hangs low on the horizon and peers under the eaves to spill fully into the living room and thus gives heat to the house. Natural gas and electricity are saved due to this natural heat when it is available. The interior adobe walls absorb and retain this heat and radiate it back into the living space long after the sun has set. The highly insulated exterior walls of straw keep this heat within and the cold of winter out. Straw, which is normally burned as a waste product after the wheat is harvested, is now baled into large building blocks from which houses can arise. The sculpted walls form pleasing volumes of space. Natural mud plasters give color without paint and a pleasing texture to the touch.
Day after day, long after the thoughts of green building have faded away, these materials subliminally enrich the soul with their beautiful forms. Form and function have become one. The home becomes art. The home is no longer a barrier to nature, but a connection to nature. It is the understanding of the balance between what is available as a material – how it is used and reused again – that completes the cycle of our environment. This is building with awareness.
Ted Owens

Syncronos Design Incorporated

Mud plastered walls in straw bale and adobe
Rooms made of straw bale and adobe have a very comforting feel due to the soft edges and muted tones of unpainted mud and gypsum plaster.

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Watch the DVD Video Preview on building a green house from start to finish: Go to video clip


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