Eco House

[lost in space]

I'm looking in the near future to build an eco house in Thailand for me and my family.

I want to be as near to self sufficient as possible i.e own power water and food.

Has anyone done this or in the process of doing it any comments or advice are most welcome

[sbk]

You might find a better response in the housing section, I'll move it there. Let me know if you prefer it in the General section

[GuestHouse]

I've been working on 'Green Designs' for our house for some time now and have pretty well developed drawings and specifications.

As a guide I'd offer this"

Start with the concept of 'Full Life Cycle'. This is the process of examining everything in your house from manufacture to disposal.

Next follow the principal of least usage. So instead of starting with 'how can I generate electricity for a/c to cool the house?', ask 'How can I reduce the amount of cooling to the minum?'.

Next the pricipal of non conversion. Example, if you want to heat water with solar energy, do so with the minimum conversion - So don't change sunlight to electricity and then use electricity to heat water. Minimize the conversion and simply heat the water with solar heat.

Going back to 'Full Life Cycle' - If you want to use solar cells, consider hwo are they manufactured? What chemicals are used? How are they transported to you? How are they disposed of? How much do they cost and what is the enviromental impact of you earning the money to buy them?

That should get you started with some ideas against which to test your plans.

[udon]

This may help you..... http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/yourhome/technical/fs15.htm

[chownah]

Lost in space,

Thailand is a great place to try this. It really doesn't take alot of energy to live here. You don't need to heat your house and actually after a bit of self conditioning you don't need to heat water for bathing. Even if you want a warm shower there is ample sunshine so a solar water heater is an easy thing to accomplish. An often overlooked source of energy for water heating is crop residue. Rice hulls are plentiful and can be burned to heat water along with small branches and twigs from fruit trees. Cooking is usually done using propane gas and one bottle lasts a couple of months for a small family. This is a petroleum product so you want to minimize its usage and if you use one bottle of cooking gas every two months then you are using the same amount of petroleum resource as the aveage commuter uses in two days as a rough estimate for comparison. Of course you could cook with twigs and branches and charcoal. Making charcoal pollutes the air but then so does burning wood. Solar cookers are possible but not convenient and very limited in the way they can prepare food. Lighting can be minimized by organizing activities to take full advantage of daylight hours and designing your house so natural light can enter where needed. The small amount of light needed at other times and places can easily be supplied with a small solar installation.

For food, you can grow stuff all year around and lots of Thai people are virtually self sufficient for food without even having it as a goal in mind....it does take consistent efforts and planning to make staggered plantings and to learn how to grow stuff in the wet season......also try to find a place where you don't have to pump water...look for a place with an irrigation ditch and a pond....

Good luck,

Chownah

Edited October 12, 2006 by chownah

[lost in space]

Thankyou all very much there is much to learn and much planning needed before this project is to start.

[sibeymai]

do a google search on "permaculture"...lots of info, especially on land use.

[udon]

Thankyou all very much there is much to learn and much planning needed before this project is to start.

Understatement of the month.

Good luck, & keep us posted.

[seanocasey]

nice tread and good info. keep in coming.

Lots of info for my dream home in thailand

[udon]

For power look for "Listeroid" gennies made in India & the Fieldmarshal model in particular.

Feed it on cocodiesel or Used Vegie Oil turned into biodiesel. (another topic)

[HS Mauberley]

I’m looking to do something similar and have been investigating adobe, stabilized earth and rammed earth (particularly the latter) and would be very interested to hear from anyone who has had experience of working with any of these in Thailand.

[fxm88]

I’m looking to do something similar and have been investigating adobe, stabilized earth and rammed earth (particularly the latter) and would be very interested to hear from anyone who has had experience of working with any of these in Thailand.

Why isn't Bamboo used more for anything other than shacks? Does it require skilled labor? Or is concrete just too cheap for it to compete? Some examples at http://www.bambootechnologies.com/bbhomes.htm

[sbk]

I’m looking to do something similar and have been investigating adobe, stabilized earth and rammed earth (particularly the latter) and would be very interested to hear from anyone who has had experience of working with any of these in Thailand.

Why isn't Bamboo used more for anything other than shacks? Does it require skilled labor? Or is concrete just too cheap for it to compete? Some examples at http://www.bambootechnologies.com/bbhomes.htm

terrific site, thanks for the link. I understand that timber bamboo is a certain type of bamboo, Phyllostachys bambusoides, which I understand mainly grows in temperate regions. Not sure if other types of bamboo are usable for this kind of scale.

[lannarebirth]

I'm looking in the near future to build an eco house in Thailand for me and my family.

I want to be as near to self sufficient as possible i.e own power water and food.

Has anyone done this or in the process of doing it any comments or advice are most welcome

I too, have hopes of building an off grid home, here in the north near Chiang Mai. The best Thai book I've read on the subject is: "Bio-Solar Home Powered By The Sun" By Soontorn Boonyatikarn.

Here's an article referring to it:

http://cooltech.iafrica.com/features/274812.htm

I'm still not decided about what I'll ultimately do, as the book utilises many modern materials to achieve the power savings, and I'd like to find a way to incorporate much traditional architecture as well. Also, thin film solar power is probaby about a year away, and promises greater efficiency at lower cost. I will be incorporating a wind turbine into electricity production. You can learn a lot about that here:

http://www.otherpower.com/otherpowerfront.shtml

One member of thisforum, "MaizeFarmer" manufactires wind turbines, and you may want to talk with him on the subject.

[chownah]

I’m looking to do something similar and have been investigating adobe, stabilized earth and rammed earth (particularly the latter) and would be very interested to hear from anyone who has had experience of working with any of these in Thailand.

Why isn't Bamboo used more for anything other than shacks? Does it require skilled labor? Or is concrete just too cheap for it to compete? Some examples at http://www.bambootechnologies.com/bbhomes.htm

Bamboo is subject to bugs and rot...it is difficult to make a mosquito proof wall from bamboo...it is very flammable....it is perceived as a negative status indicator in Thailand.

Chownah

[The Coder]

Take a look at the goings on at pun pun which is in Chiang Mai. Learn how and why to build your own dream house using alternative building techniques which can be done by yourself. They like adobe, but also apply other building types and aspects of sustainable living including some solar. Since they are in Thailand, it is all extremely practical information.

[HS Mauberley]

Thanks for the link - looks like it's worth pursuing.

[SiriusBlack1]

I'm also interested in this topic. Here's an interesting article in an architectural journal about a university professor's project in Thailand:

http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/0514/...onment_1-1.html

[tracker]

Also I'm running around with the same plans for a long time....

Here are some ideas:

Land (in area) is more important than size of house. The land gives you all that you need to sustain your life and family

a. growth of (fruit)trees and veggies

b. natural cooling

c. compost toilet (no water or septic tank needed) check out "humanure handbook" (free online reading). The refuse of your plants is all your need for toilet... No smells!!

d. pond for grey-water recycle

e. pond for fish

n.b. as you can see everywhere, the landplots usually offered with houses, always is covered over 80% with house. This gives a good return on investment for the project, because land, material and construction cost is at maximum profit taking calculated. Since this is a hot country, it will give everybody who buys something like that a concrete oven which the electric company loves! start buying those aircons!

Time to go back to the basics!

Edited October 31, 2006 by tracker

[pkllusted]

Please see ECO-Cool Thai Homes: http://www.siamrealestate.com/property/propage.php?n=1360

[Shokdee]

I've done a little reseach into permaculture and I like what I read and want to try implement that approach.

I'm about to follow all the links suggested in other posts but see also www.earthboundearth.com in Pai.

[sbk]

tracker, have you seen composting toilets available in Thailand?

[Shokdee]

http://cooltech.iafrica.com/features/274812.htm

"A blueprint for sustainable living "

A lawn? A swimming pool? I'm into the sustainable lifestyle, when I get home in my SUV from my high paying job in the city.

Better solution then eco house is eco village.

http://freehost16.websamba.com/punpunth/index.asp

Pun Pun is an organic farm, seed-saving operation, and sustainable living and learning center. We feel that only by living in a sustainable way ourselves, is it possible for us to create a model from which others can learn and live. Through natural cultivation on our organic farm we display ways of transitioning to, and living more sustainably. Through the living and learning center we experiment with appropriate technologies, organic farming, and natural building techniques. We discover the practices that work well for people and are practical. We then spread this knowledge to those individuals and networks that will put it to use. Through our seed-saving operation we seek to bring back indigenous and rare species of all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and medicinal herbs. We propagate them at the farm and then exchange them for greater use amongst farmers and other interested people, thus empowering and improving the health of the general public.

Pun Pun Community

We are about 8-12 Thais and international peoples, speaking both English and Thai, and spanning in age from one-years old to 44. We moved onto the Pun Pun land in July 2003. We live, eat, work, and teach together in community. We organically grow the food we eat. We build our natural indigenous dwellings with our own hands. We maintain a seed-saving operation where we collect, propagate, and network rare, heirloom, and local seeds. On a regular basis, we have many visitors from within Thailand, surrounding countries, and other parts of the world. We host hands-on educational events to share our knowledge with others. Several of us travel extensively, working with villagers, NGO's, and others. We are located 2 hours by public transportation from Chiang Mai, Thailand's second largest city. We are a twenty minute bus ride away from the closest town, with internet.

Pun Pun Philosophy

We run our farm, community, and programs based on an experimental and experiential learning approach. We have worked with various groups for the past several years, and find this approach to be the most effective. We believe in learning by doing and that there is not only one way of doing things. We don't believe in experts, but in learning together. We have seen that through opening the door for further exploration, new developments can occur. "Mistakes" are simply opportunities for more learning. This means that we spend more time working and experimenting with techniques, rather than discussing them in a classroom. We also keep time open for discussion and questions as needed. Since we are in Thailand we teach based on a tropical climate that can be adapted to be used elsewhere.

If you are interested in learning more or in visiting our project, we'd love to hear from you.

We are located in northern Thailand, about 50 kms north of Chaing Mai City, in Mae Taeng District near a village called Mae Jo.

[Shokdee]

http://www.earthboundearth.com/pai/programs/index.php

ECO-VILLAGE, THAILAND! is a cohesive network of destinations for a complete array of experience while you are visiting Pai. You are entirely able to design your visit with us - what you will do, where you will stay, what and where you will eat.

Participate in workshops at the PAI EXPERIMENTAL ORGANIC FARM as much or as little as you wish. Then divide your time among a variety of eco-adventures (Treks, River Rafting, Rock Climbing, Elephant Treks, etc), Cultural Immersion (visits and projects at minority villages, Thai Cooking Classes, Weaving and Basket Making), Healing Programs (Massage, Massage Courses, Herbal Studies) and just plain fun in and around the Pai pub scene and marketplaces. PAI EXPERIMENTAL ORGANIC FARM is located one and one/half kilometer from the center of Pai. There are over 300 fruit trees, organic vegetable gardens, meditation gardens, gathering space, yoga space and restaurant on three and one/half acres. Visitors to THE FARM are immediately impressed with the vitality of both the plant-life and human activity!

As a visitor to ECO-VILLAGE, THAILAND! your first stop will be THE FARM and THE FARM will become the staging area for your stay in the Pai Valley.

Our reputation grows as we expand to include workshops, meals at our restaurant and Special Events for local people, tourists passing through Pai and workshop/workexchange participants.

Originally, Mikel Roe, a long-term resident of Pai envisioned stewardship of the land with an emphasis on making compost. As projects moved forward and the land became reclaimed, the Thai owners of the property gave free reign to developing THE FARM as an organic/permaculture museum as well as a destination for eco-savvy tourists.

With Plant Propagation, Compost Making Workshop, Traditional Building Workshops, Organic Gardens etc, THE FARM is living very nicely up to its nick-name: COMPOST PARK.

We are proud and happy to share our space and our projects with people from Pai and from other parts of the world so as to foster the principles of Living Softly Upon The Land, and creating dynamic agriculture practices involving groups of people so inclined to invent truly egalitarian balance with each other and with the land.

Your visit to THE FARM will be educational, inspiring, healing and relaxing fun. Expect the best! We look forward to seeing you in Pai.