Taught by Scott Howard and friends. Learn all phases of Cob house construction including: design, permitting, foundations, walls, windows & doors, loft, and eco-roof. Take both workshops to get all the information.
Tuition = $900 for each workshop, or $1600 for both. Includes meals and camping.
Preregistration is required. To Register, Email: workshops@earthenhand.com. And send $200 per workshop non-refundable deposit to Earthen Hand Natural Building 3333 NE 15th Ave, Portland, OR, 97212
Are building officials’ practices encouraging builders to perform mediocre work?
by David Eisenberg
Imagine two builders in your community. One knows the building code as a set of minimum standards and builds only to those minimums, producing the worst building he legally can. The other always is pushing the envelope at the opposite end of the spectrum, trying to build the most energy- and resource-efficient, least toxic, most environmentally and socially responsible building possible. Which builder, do you think, holds the record for the fastest and easiest time getting a set of plans through the building department, and which holds the record for the longest and most brutal experience? Nobody intends to give a pass to the worst builder and to beat the crap out of the best one, but that’s what our system does.
What if building officials reviewed the plans of the best builders first instead of putting them on the bottom of the pile because of all the complications? What if officials met with builders to learn why they are doing what they’re doing, what the benefits are, and to whom those benefits accrue? What if we all saw our building departments as a community resource for the best houses, not just as the building police preventing the worst? Continue Reading…
