Tag Archives: sustainable

How to Move Yourself Off-The-Grid

Posted on July 27, 2010 by Michael Janzen

It’s easy to take flush toilets, grid-power, and fresh water on tap for granted. I can’t blame any of us for thinking that all these modern conveniences are normal… it’s the onlynormal we’ve known. Due to this most folks have a … Continue reading →

Posted in How To | Tagged greywater, off the grid, off-grid, solar, sustainable | 41 Comments

The Bear Ridge Cottage

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Michael Janzen

I’ve been following the Bear Ridge Project for quite some time. It’s the journal of BigBear, a man who’s been working to find his own path to freedom by leaving a consumer based existence behind for and off-grid sustainable lifestyle. … Continue reading →

Posted in Sustainable Living | Tagged bear ridge, bigbear, cabin, off-grid, sustainable | 2 Comments

Help Build a Stronger Case for Tiny Houses

Posted on November 20, 2009 by Michael Janzen

The other day I posted a story about Michael Mehta’s small house on Gabriola Island in British Columbia. Michael is currently working on a short article focused on small-scale, sustainable housing for a newspaper article and is hoping to leverage … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcement | Tagged ecological, LEED, low impact, Michael Mehta, Newspaper article, Research, strong case, sustainable | 10 Comments

Tiny Prefab – eBook & Plans

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Michael Janzen

Last night I put the finishing touches on a 65 page house plan ebook. It’s called Tiny Prefab, A Do-It-Yourself Prefab Building System and contains the plans and instructions for creating tiny prefab structures that are easy to build from … Continue reading →

Posted in Books | Tagged book, diy, do it yourself, ebook, michael janzen, panelized, panels, Plans, prefab, sips, sustainable, sustainable architecture, tiny prefab | 6 Comments

A House for Khayelitsha – Preview

Posted on September 9, 2009 by Michael Janzen

Last night I posted a story on Tiny House Living about a project that has emerged over the last few days. When I woke up this morning I had an idea for how the roof should work so I quickly … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Concept | Tagged Khayelitsha, panelized, prefab, shelter, sustainable, tiny house | 7 Comments

Dogtrot Friggebod

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Michael Janzen

One of my regular readers sent me his small house dream. David is a ex-Aussie living in Sweden and was inspired by a combination of my dogtrot tiny house concept and a friggebod. In Sweden you can generally build a … Continue reading →

Posted in Design Concept | Tagged alternate energy, aussie, david, dogtrot, friggebod, green roof, sustainable, sustainable architecture, sweden, tiny house | 6 Comments

Tiny Free House Update

Posted on August 23, 2009 by Michael Janzen

The weather was nice this past weekend, a little hot, but not bad at all… perfect for putting the pallet boards on the roof of my Tiny Free House. I did get a bit of a sun burned on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Tiny Free House | Tagged free house, pallet house, pallets, recycled, scrap, sustainable, sustainable architecture, tiny house | 3 Comments

Innovative Orphanage Design in Thailand

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Michael Janzen

This is an incredibly innovate orphanage design by TYIN, a student-run Norwegian non-profit organization focused on developing humanitarian architecture. Soe Ker Tie House is one of four projects recently completed in Thailand near the border with Burma. The design is … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Design | Tagged architecture, bamboo, Burma, Humanitarian, natural cooling, Norwegian, Orphanage, rainwater collection, Soe Ker Tie House, sustainable, sustainable architecture, Thailand, TYIN | 4 Comments

My Newest Hero – John Wells

Posted on June 14, 2009 by Michael Janzen

A few days ago I posted a short introduction to John’s tiny house out in the desert in Texas and was surprised at the number of other websites that picked up the story, Treehugger was probably the biggest of them … Continue reading →

Posted in Sustainable Living | Tagged field lab, john wells, off the grid, self-sufficient, sustainable | 3 Comments

The Field Lab – Extremely Sustainable Homestead

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Michael Janzen

The Field Lab, also known as the Southwest Texas Alternative Energy And Sustainable Living Field Laboratory, is the 40-acre desert homestead of John Wells. John had been living in upstate New York for years but had a bit of awakening, like … Continue reading →

Posted in Sustainable Living | Tagged homestead, humanure, jenkins, john wells, off the grid, rainwater, solar, southwest, sustainable, swamp cooler, texas, the field lab | 12 Comments