The Building Site
This ariel view of the land shows the approximate boundaries in yellow and the building site is shaded red. The inset shows the existing barn, which is currently a collapsed ruin, and the outline of the house.
This image shows the view from what will be our front door. Once the barn is taken down and those last two cedars are dropped it should be very nice.
The view from the other side of the barn.
This picture was taken at the same spot as the one above but turned around 180 degrees to show the building site. In the larger version you can see the yellow tape that marks off the foundation.
This photo was taken from the back of the house site facing south. The large rectangle in front is the main living area, the small rectangle closest to the camera is the systems room.
Recomended Reading
- Straw Bale
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- Straw bale building: How to plan, design & build with straw
- This is sort of the bible of building a straw bale house, especially in Canada as it is one of the only books that deals with our colder climate. Easy to read and filled with lots of clear diagrams I highly recommend this book if you want to learn about building with bales.
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- More Straw Bale Building: A Complete Guide to Designing and Building with Straw
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- Straw Bale Details: A Manual for Designers and Builders
- This book is filled with all of the fiddly details of building with bales. Recommended if you are a builder or when you've finished Straw Bale Building and want to learn more.
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- The Straw Bale House
- Focused more on southern climates, this was the first book we got on building with bales.
- Passive Solar
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- The Solar House: Passive Solar Heating and Cooling
- This is the book I wish we'd had before we started the house. It explains everythingt you could possibly want to know about passive solar house design, and more importantly it covers all of the common mistakes, like over-glazing for example. If you are building a passive solar home buy this book.
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- Tap the sun: Passive solar techniques and home designs
- The book, put out by the CMHC includes all of the technical details you need for building a passive solar house in Canada. While definately not uber-glossy house porn the book does contain some (kinda boring) house designs.
- Off Grid
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- Smart Power
- If you're new to renewable energy, but want a clear and simple resource to get you started, this is the book.
- House Design
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- A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction
- Well Amazon says: "A Pattern Language offers a practical language for building and planning based on natural considerations." But it's much more than that, have you ever been in a house where the layout just didn't 'feel right'? A Pattern Language will explain why, and how to design a house that works.
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- Sustainable Homes: 26 Designs that Respect the Earth
- This is the house-porn. Lots and lots of glossy pretty pictures. Rammed earth, straw bale, you name it it's in here and man are they gorgeous! This is the book to show the naysayers who think that green can't been modern, or that environmentally friendly means boring and rigid.
