I’ve found some useful sites for Building Resources. If you are interested in sustainable building or adding to your existing property, here are some links.
Sustainable Building Resources: hollowtop.com
Some specs on Straw Bale Buildiing here and at Solarhaven.org
Green Home Building has info on cob, hay, cordwood, bamboo, papercrete,hybrid building and of course mud! So awesome.
Green Home Building Guidelines
Cordwood masonry, which I’ve seen peppered around the Northeast..
Cob Cottrage.com and Cobworks.com
…more to come!!!
Hurricane Candice 
Fun. A cordwood house with a sod roof!
A note about how hard it is to legally build and insure structurs like this in the Northast. Vermont is one of the few states in which in most towns you do not need a CO (Certificate of Occupancy). Nor do you need licensed plumbers and electricians. Its really cool and efficient to have these infilled structures but wiring and plumbing them takes as much patience and time and care as building them and it becomes prohibitive with professionals.
Most all of these structures start with some kind of timber frame or post and beam. Then the cob, hay, cordwood fill goes between the posts. When you look at the really old European timber frames (standing for 500+ years, you see the exposed timbers and then usually a white infill. That’s a mix of hay, wool, other fibers, and a concrete-like spackle. Basically an infilled house!!
There’s nothing more rewarding than participating as much as possible in the construction of your dwelling. There’s nothing more frustrating than politically motivated zoning and construction laws! Fight laws which demand “licensed contractors” and strict building codes. This is so much more beautiful than pink and blue boxes – don’t you agree??
But your insurance company and real estate agent might not like it. In Vermont, your neighbor who comes up every other month from the city will scream you are “decreasing property values.” What’s the value when there’s nothing left to eat or drink? When my electric bill is sky high because they want air conditioning?
Sorry I get so darned cynical some times. Mostly I just want to encourage your readers to be proactive in alternative housing which takes not just building their own alternative housing but to never push to pass laws or to break down the laws which make it difficult.
Yeah, I feel bad when a “little old lady” gets taken by a shady handy man. But the consumer should have some responsibility to shop and be wary, demand references, not go with the cheapest provider of services.
You want a “hay bale” wall made out of reused phone books? It has excellent insulating properties, saves the environment, would actually be a great wall and easy to run utilities in. You should be allowed to do it but in most of the U.S. it would be illegal. Fight to change that! Get on your local planning commission and un-plan, un-regulate!
It seems that we are now spying on everywhere. When the world does not feel safe, schools and businesses to return to the use of electronic means. Usually, this consists of hidden cameras. Sometimes there is even a bathroom hidden cameras.
Schools are using more and more surveillance. That should help keep students safe. It also helps solve crimes that have already occurred. Knowing the cameras have reason to think students before they came to misbehavior.
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That is a great building, beautifully made! Great post
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Regards