Leave a comment Posted on July 21, 2014 reclaimed building materials

Top 5 Sustainable 2014 Summer Sizzles

1. Finishing installation of my tiny house metal roof panels and ridge beam on a hot summer’s afternoon.

2. Roasting fresh organic fingerling eggplants, baby red peppers and green roma tomatoes over Arugula in a solar oven (all from our organic garden) for our tiny house workshop luncheon last weekend.

3. Nurturing and inspiring underprivileged young high school women to make reclamation art and fashion by repurposing discarded trash, and found objects destined for landfills into wearable treasures.

4. Repairing, selling, and gifting all my remaining household goods in preparation for moving into the Silver Bullet tiny house/classroom on wheels.

5. Having our workshop attendees sizzle’s quenched by a tasty sampling challenge between a local winery and a friend’s local brewery. (Riverwalk won!)

**So busy building, teaching, organic gardening, taking videos and pics, I apologize for not posting regularly. As soon as I learn iMovie, I’ll get all 7 postings up; hopefully, before long!

2 Comments Posted on July 7, 2014March 20, 2015 Biomimicry

Biomimicry in Tiny House Roofing?

What is biomimicry in construction design and planning? You can find some examples of biomimetic architecture here.

Traditional solutions like plywood, roofing felt, and shingles is basic residential roofing, right? I grew up in, purchased and lived most of my life in homes built like this without realizing how toxic those materials can be to human health and how little their manufactured design prevents rotting, mold, airflow and longevity of the life of the resource/product. And that’s not even thinking of how to recycle, reuse or repurpose those resources!

For my tiny house/classroom build, I chose to use healthier alternatives while applying biomimetic principles by creating a traditional looking structure as close to mimicking our integumentary and skeletal systems as possible. After all, our bodies are incredible human machines! And if we treat them right, they are quite sustainable!

I choose innovative and well designed products AND manufacturers that embody sustainable practices in their product’s manufacturing and/or their management/operating practices.

I designed the Silver Bullet’s “envelope” to imitate nature with great “bones” (advanced framing) and great “skin and hair” to be waterproof, regulate temperature, and circulate air to dry itself (or should I say Zip panels by Huber and Homeslicker Rainscreen or CedarBreather by Benjamin Obdyke).

This material comes in about a 62′ long roll, 39″ wide and is very easy to install, especially for a novice builder like me. And the manufacturer was helpful in explaining to me how to install their product for my customized purposes.

CedarBreather is a nylon mesh type matrix that has repeated mesh 3D cupcake forms across its surface. This 1/4″ compressed layer provides cushioning, eliminates moisture, prevents cupping, rotting, and is fire resistant. Ideal for the common issues that normally plague all tiny-housers.

Below you can see the layers I built. The Zip board over the rafters, the Cedarbreather over that, then the corrugated steel panels. CedarBreather allows controlled airflow over the roof deck between the ridge beam, baffled rafters and vented eave louvres.

Another tiny house construction project completed by an amateur successfully! Yay! And this means the sound of rain on the roof will be a little softer as I fall asleep looking at the stars in one of my lofts. And the last thing on my mind will be the effects of moisture on my tiny house structure!

*Check out a similar ventilated underlayment, Homeslicker Rainscreen, I installed on my walls here.

Article in Green Builder Media about the Silver Bullet:

http://www.greenbuildermedia.com/tiny-houses/underlayments-protect-tiny-house-from-excess-moisture

Leave a comment Posted on June 27, 2014October 21, 2014 Community, reclaimed building materials, reclamation art, reclamation belongings

June 28 Byfield Music and Arts Festival 10AM-9PM

Want to hear live music from 15 different bands, try the brews, buy art, support sustainability non-profits and have fun on a beautiful summer Saturday?

Come join us tomorrow…at Manter Field 10AM-9PM for the Byfield Music & Arts Festival. Directions, tickets, more information is here.

The Struck women will be there at their Struck Studios art booth!!! Come see us!

All proceeds from our sales of gorgeous reclamation artwork and jewelry go to support the Byfield Arts Center and the Net Zero Silver Bullet Tiny House.

Leave a comment Posted on June 27, 2014 reclaimed building materials

The Waste House

Kudos to the University of Brighton!! This house is made entirely of trash, including CD’s, toothbrushes and other recycled rubble from the garbage! You can see more pics here, on ViralNova or go to The Waste House.

1 Comment Posted on June 24, 2014October 21, 2014 Community, tiny house community, tiny house talk

Resource Dieting

“We must use time as a tool, not as a couch.” John F. Kennedy

Yes, life is short. However, minimizing one’s carbon footprint is not achieved immediately, it is a work in progress. In my sustainable lifestyle design classes students find it daunting to face their clothes closet, their kitchen cupboards, the products below their sink, analysis of their travel/transportation habits, what they eat, their waste-stream, where and how they view their economics, their cultural and social responsibilities through the sustainable lens.

I often tell them to start with baby steps. A shift in perception through a new lens involves adaptation and adjustments. I assure them that soon they will have the confidence and ability to create, see and live their sustainable dream. And it is so satisfying!

Some of us can adapt to more sustainable practices quickly by changing careers, buying carbon offsets, offloading less green automobiles and transportation modes, food, habits, toxic chemicals and becoming more compassionate and socially conscious members of the human race. However, some find it difficult, time-consuming and economically unfeasible.

90% of my students claim their inability to adopt a healthier, reduced carbon footprint life is due to lack of time, money and/or lack of knowledge regarding how to achieve a sustainable lifestyle.

I wish I could tell you that resource dieting and resource stewardship is easy. It isn’t, but it is worth it! One of the reasons it is difficult is that it is a customized and different path for each one of us.

To me that means finding a home, career, community and lifestyle compatible with nature that gives you the maximum amount of leisure, cultural and social engagement, with a minimized carbon footprint, economic and energy output. And to do all this with a minimum of violence and a maximum of compassion towards our fellow humans and other livings beings.

This may be one of the many reasons the tiny house community is popular and why it has gained so many followers in recent years. Many of its members, like myself, have rid themselves of workaholic careers, too much stuff, unhealthy food, unhealthy habits in favor of a healthier, sharing community and leisure lifestyles that leaving the consumptive debt culture affords.

Top five resource diet tips I utilized:

1. downsized with an estate sale, a yard sale, or garage sale

2. arranged a free cycle exchange, a clothing exchange, a cookie or food exchange, a canning/preservative goods exchange

3. bartered services and goods

4. participated in a free bank and gift economy

5. given to many of my favorite non-profits

I continue to meet tons of really great people, have wonderful adventures, time in nature, taken home all kinds of money, lovingly prepared food, canned goods and clothing.

This journey has taught me all kinds of skills about building, refinishing, repurposing and reclaiming all kinds of stuff that would otherwise end up in a landfill. It has taught me about my boundaries, my abilities and my disability, my limits and how to exceed them! My “toolbox” is growing daily.

And best of all, it is fun and one rocking’ great time “tooling'” down the road!

1 Comment Posted on June 4, 2014July 29, 2015 tiny house walls

The Inner Envelope

I define the inner envelope of my tiny house as everything between the Zip panel (with its own vapor barrier) and the inner siding.

Walls: Total R Value 18

For rigidity of the structure, in the corners and key areas (about 20% of the entire structure) of my advanced framing, I placed a combo of 1 inch Owens Corning Foamular 250 (R Value 5) and 2 inch Bonded Logic recycled cotton jean insulation (R value 8). The last .5 inch is an air layer between the layer of stapled Ecofoil radiant barrier and my interior walls.

In all remaining walls I have 3.5 inch of Bonded Logic (R value 13) slightly pressed in with stapled Ecofoil and .5 inch airspace.

Dormer and Cathedral Ceiling: Total R Value 18

I have 3.5 inch of Bonded Logic (R value 13) slightly pressed in with stapled Ecofoil and .5 inch airspace.

Floor: Total R Value 33

Two layers of 1.5 inch Owens Corning (R Value 15), 3.5 inch Bonded Logic (R Value 13) and Ecofoil (R Value 5).

2 Comments Posted on June 1, 2014March 20, 2015 Biomimicry, tiny house walls, tiny house workshop

A Tiny House that Breathes?

Three years ago I was thinking about my future tiny house envelope and chose to incorporate biomimicry as much as I could. This traveling educational exhibit, traditionally designed, to educate others on sustainable lifestyles and building retrofits, rehabs and/or repurposed construction can still incorporate biomimetics in its product choices. My next tiny house will be far more organic in design, with eco-skins, almost imperceptible from its natural surroundings. But I digress.

Nature’s design as inspiration is not new (Sacred Geometry, Golden Mean, etc.). Biomimicry, Cradle to Cradle or LCA (life cycle analysis) concepts are basic inspiration for Smart Sustainable Design.

Deciding on a vented breathing roof and rain screened walls delayed my build a bit and it was well worth it. I began installing Benjamin Obdyke’s product, Homeslicker rainscreen in late Spring during a workshop I held for tiny house enthusiast’s, video below.

My siding applications were done in sections around the house over the summer.*

Note in the middle picture that 3 inches of screen was folded around the edges to allow drainage but discourage insect infestation. More about how to install Homeslicker here.

Homeslicker is a nylon mesh matrix that comes in a 40″ x 46′ roll and has little vertical channels that direct rain flow down the walls surface. It is very easy to install (I’m not a builder) and provides about a 1/8″- 1/4″ air layer, when compressed, between my Zip panels and my metal or wood siding.

Homeslicker will protect your wall assembly from rot and mold, allow moisture to escape, a thermal break, and prevents damage from surfactants between your vapor and siding. A great solution for tiny housers!

*Check out a similar ventilated underlayment, CedarBreather, I installed on my roof here.

Article in Green Builder Media about the Silver Bullet:

http://www.greenbuildermedia.com/tiny-houses/underlayments-protect-tiny-house-from-excess-moisture

1 Comment Posted on May 29, 2014November 1, 2014 reclaimed building materials, reclaimed furniture, tiny house workshop

Basic Construction Worktable

Most of our workshop attendees are unfamiliar with construction power tools and basic skills. Although I had started the Silver Bullet without a worktable; I accumulated a few leftover scraps from house painters, some roadside plywood and reclaimed 2 x 4’s and chose this simple design:

This project uses the mitre saw, circular saw, regular and compact power drill drivers to assemble the simplistic worktable seen here. It took a few volunteers less than an hour to assemble the pre-painted reclaimed lumber pieces I cut a few hours beforehand.

The mitre saw was installed and we were onto the next demo!

Installing the last window for the Silver Bullet!

1 Comment Posted on May 27, 2014July 21, 2014 Events, Silver Bullet Social, tiny house workshop

1st Silver Bullet Tiny House Sustainable Swap Social

(Photo Credits: Cynthia Staats)

Sponsored and underwritten by the sustainability non-profit, terrabluteams.org, the first Silver Bullet Tiny House Social/Retreat empowered attendees with skills and information about choices required to approach a more sustainable tiny life.

This tiny house social/retreat differs from other workshops by facilitating and nurturing the whole sustainable tiny life, not just the construction build. With hands-on demonstrations of resource repurposing, barter strategies, tiny life transitioning skills, composting, organic local food, attendees experience skills needed to achieve resiliency in a world being depleted of its resources.

Particpants honed their new construction skills building a simple worktable needed for their future tiny house builds, installing 2nd and 3rd stage projects such as window installation, rain screen application, vented roofing and insulation, and how to turn trash into treasure. Attendees made earrings of recycled plastic in their own custom design. Sunday morning after a leisurely breakfast, folks were guided into yogic meditation by Kelsey Max Klibansky.

The next weekend retreat, July 19-20, will include sustainable composting, several 2nd-3rd stage tiny house construction projects, with local organic dinners included, fire pit socials, barter skills, trash to treasure projects, speakers, and other chapters on how to apply the sustainable/resiliency filter to your life’s design choices. Learn new skills, socialize, camp out, visit the Pqrker River.

To register for the July 19-20, 2014 Silver Bullet Tiny House Retreat (SOLD OUT)!!

“Aaahhh, so that’s what a rain screen looks like”.

And as she says that, other participants work overtime with repurposing ideas for the left overs into a slew of creative fashion statements so they don’t end up in a land fill.

Installing a recycled window found by the roadside:

silver bullet tiny house