I'm happy to say that this weekend I found affordable land in Southern California that I can build on at a pace I can afford, and with minimal interference from governmental organizations. Downside/Upside is that it is 10 miles away from a power line.
Does anyone have any good resources on off-grid technology/how-to's etc? I've already ordered the Solar Living Sourcebook - anyone take a class at the Solar Living Institute? It's going to be done in phases, but I'm thinking PV and rainwater harvesting are feasible by the final solution. I should also say that I'm going to be building this compound w/o a contractor and have enough experience to screw it up/complete it myself.
Thank you for living my dream, please keep us posted as you progress!
If you haven't yet, check out Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison and the Earthship books by Mike Reynolds, I think Earthship Vol.2 covers rainwater harvesting and the like, as well as greywater reuse and wetlands construction. All of these books will likely go deeper or in a different direction than you may intend, but they lay a good foundation of knowledge to work from.
How likely is grid development? A grid tied PV system may be a good idea even if it wont actually be tied for several years.
What type of construction are you thinking? Rammed earth?
Thanks for the reference - I will check out the Earthship books. Looks like I may have to take a trip to NM and stay in one of those bad boys as 'research'.
Powerlines are probably at least a decade or two away from this site. There are other off-grid homes nearby, but it is located in a fairly secluded valley that can only be accessed by a somewhat treacherous jeep trail... no Volvos in this neighborhood.
I've been thinking about rammed earth and picked up the Dave Easton's book. Need to do more research on the soil to see if it will cohere after ramming - the soil is mostly decomposed granite so I don't know if it is sticky enough. Might end up being the best option since there is no way that Home Depot is going to deliver there. Either that or some sort of quasi-modular construction that I can knock together in town and then assemble in-situ.
Either way I'm really excited to get this thing rolling. Construction begins this weekend when I buy a new tent.
we designed and built off-grid sustainable houses on the Washington Mall....my school (NYIT) used a regenerative hydrogen storage system where we created hydrogen with an electrolyzer and then used it in a hydrogen fuel cell to power our house...all from energy we collected from the sun
Janosh, if you are in So Cal check out the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies run by Cal Poly Pomona...it beats the drive up to Hopland though the SLI is cool. The SLI also has a great book recommendation guide on their homepage that you should look through.
Aside from the earthships in New Mexico check out Cal Earth run by Nader, they are a lot closer.
Off-Grid Resources
I'm happy to say that this weekend I found affordable land in Southern California that I can build on at a pace I can afford, and with minimal interference from governmental organizations. Downside/Upside is that it is 10 miles away from a power line.
Does anyone have any good resources on off-grid technology/how-to's etc? I've already ordered the Solar Living Sourcebook - anyone take a class at the Solar Living Institute? It's going to be done in phases, but I'm thinking PV and rainwater harvesting are feasible by the final solution. I should also say that I'm going to be building this compound w/o a contractor and have enough experience to screw it up/complete it myself.
YESSSSS!!!!!
Thank you for living my dream, please keep us posted as you progress!
If you haven't yet, check out Introduction to Permaculture by Bill Mollison and the Earthship books by Mike Reynolds, I think Earthship Vol.2 covers rainwater harvesting and the like, as well as greywater reuse and wetlands construction. All of these books will likely go deeper or in a different direction than you may intend, but they lay a good foundation of knowledge to work from.
How likely is grid development? A grid tied PV system may be a good idea even if it wont actually be tied for several years.
What type of construction are you thinking? Rammed earth?
mmmmmm, compound....
Thanks for the reference - I will check out the Earthship books. Looks like I may have to take a trip to NM and stay in one of those bad boys as 'research'.
Powerlines are probably at least a decade or two away from this site. There are other off-grid homes nearby, but it is located in a fairly secluded valley that can only be accessed by a somewhat treacherous jeep trail... no Volvos in this neighborhood.
I've been thinking about rammed earth and picked up the Dave Easton's book. Need to do more research on the soil to see if it will cohere after ramming - the soil is mostly decomposed granite so I don't know if it is sticky enough. Might end up being the best option since there is no way that Home Depot is going to deliver there. Either that or some sort of quasi-modular construction that I can knock together in town and then assemble in-situ.
Either way I'm really excited to get this thing rolling. Construction begins this weekend when I buy a new tent.
check out link
we designed and built off-grid sustainable houses on the Washington Mall....my school (NYIT) used a regenerative hydrogen storage system where we created hydrogen with an electrolyzer and then used it in a hydrogen fuel cell to power our house...all from energy we collected from the sun
Janosh, if you are in So Cal check out the Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies run by Cal Poly Pomona...it beats the drive up to Hopland though the SLI is cool. The SLI also has a great book recommendation guide on their homepage that you should look through.
Aside from the earthships in New Mexico check out Cal Earth run by Nader, they are a lot closer.
The books by Sue Roaf are also great.
Glenn Murcutt
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