Eco-Architecture & Ecological Living

Solar bottle lights in a Ugandan Kitchen

2012-02-06T12:54:00.004-06:00

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Solar bottle lights in a Ugandan kitchen | 50W Plastic bottle daytime light

Uploaded by sendacow on Jan 5, 2012

http://www.sendacow.org.uk Helen from Uganda shows how she is trialling using 1.5 litre plastic water bottles as a way of lighting her dark kitchen in the daytime. She uses the bottles, filled with water and a little bleach, grouped in 3s over her cooking areas in her dark mud kitchen with grass roof. Techniques like this can reduce eye strain and the need for electric lighting where electricity is too expensive or not available.

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Comments:

You could make larger "windows" by grouping more bottles together. You could also embed them into the mud walls when the house is being constructed, to let in more light from the sides. Attaching cloth flaps (from old clothes or feed sacks) over these windows would serve as shutters if you don't want as much light coming in.
ElveeKaye
@ElveeKaye : Making "windows" embedded in the walls by grouping more bottles is a great idea. You could do colored water for "stained glass" windows! And as you suggested, if you want curtains, using feed sacks or old cloths - sewing together old t-shirts, for example - could make great curtains What a great idea. Can't wait to try this here in Guatemala.
CommentsSurvey (Catherine Todd)

Hotel Royal Mansour Mahdia (TUNISIE)

2012-02-01T17:15:00.000-06:00

Karim Ben Salem

at Hotel Royal Mansour Mahdia (TUNISIE).

Facebook · November 15, 2011

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=116873891758960&set=a.116870685092614.21440.100003090504837&type=3&theater

This is going to be (one of) my rooms one of these days...

Plan of Notre Dame de Paris

2012-02-01T12:30:00.005-06:00

Note: I didn't know this book existed! Can't wait to order it and start to work...

"In 1845, architect Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc undertook one of the greatest projects in the history of restoration: the 23-year refurbishment of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. This faithful reproduction of the restored murals, notable for their originality of design and for the soft and subtle harmony of their coloration, presents 60 full-page plates."

More: http://www.doverpublications.com/designsampler/0201/sample70a.htm

From: Designs and Ornaments from the Chapels of Notre Dame

Sampler Home

About this Book

Excerpt 1 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 5 -- 6 -- 7

From: Designs and Ornaments from the Chapels of Notre Dame

Sampler Home

About this Book

Excerpt 1 -- 2 -- 3 -- 4 -- 5 -- 6 -- 7

© Dover Publications. You can browse our complete catalog of over 9,000 titles at www.doverpublications.com or visit your local bookseller.

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Also see: Viollet-Le-Duc: The French Gothic Revival [Paperback]

Jean-Paul Midant (Author)

http://www.amazon.com/Viollet-Duc-French-Gothic-Revival/dp/2914199228/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

Livraria Lello ~ Library / Bookstore in Porto-Portugal

2012-01-27T15:16:00.002-06:00

We could do a lot of this kind of decoration, wood carving and design in the new AtitlanArts.com Design Studio here in Panajachel, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. We can also draw from the incredible Mayan artistic designs, paintings and carvings, along with my beloved Medieval architecture and design. We could make a large ceiling light in stained glass even though we don't have a skylight area. In fact, we could paint directly onto the plastic roof panels used now for skylights. So many wonderful ideas here!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=TtMfYjWf9M4

See "Lello Bookstore" folder with more screen shots from the video. Here's a few of my favorites:

Archways and Ceilings ~ Groin Vault / Cross Vault

2012-01-17T02:26:00.000-06:00

Groin Vault / Cross Vault 10x10 ft $830

Groin Vault / Cross Vault 6x6 ft $404

http://www.archwaysandceilings.com/ceilings-made-easy_groin-vaults.php

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Email response to find the estimating link:

Jim@archwaysandceilings.com:

You have to go further in the web-site by either clicking on the "Archways Made Easy" or the "Ceilings Made Easy" on the top bar. Then you select the specific type of arch or ceiling you are interested in.

Jim Scott
Archways and Ceilings

"Since 1988"
877-303-2263

archwaysandceilings.com

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Worked! Excellent prices and easy installation. 3 to 5 days delivery. Can't wait to try it!

How to build a Dome Ceiling - in 8 minutes and 20 seconds

2012-01-14T17:55:00.002-06:00

How to build a Dome Ceiling is a video illustrating how easy and quickly an Archwayandceilings product installs. The video was shot at a local jobsite and was not edited. The dome took 8 minutes and 20 seconds to install. Now, that's fast!

Comment: How to finish the dome?

"You can do it with mesh and plaster... the easier way in my opinion is to use 1/4" flexible drywall and cut into pie pieces and simply press / screw them into place. I will have "how to" drywall videos up by the end of the month to show this method. Also, I will post a picture gallery tomorrow to illustrate this method as well."

Archking57

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Prices and more:

Uploaded by Archking57 on Feb 8, 2010

All you need to know about Archways and Ceilings Made Easy in 60 Seconds! Learn about our different products from Groin vaults, Dome Ceilings, Barrel Vaults, Cove Ceilings and Archways. Once you have figured which ceiling or arch kit best fits your needs, get an instant quote at the click of the mouse. Place orders online or over the phone, it is that easy! The product will ship directly from our warehouse in 3 to 5 days directly to the job site! That's it!! You will have a beautiful archway in no time!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uvQpKJezik

6 foot dome costs $330.00 and installs in less than 30 minutes

3 foot archway costs $20.00 and installs in less than 2 minutes

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Archway & Ceiling Kits | Groin Vault | Dome Ceiling | Barrel Vault ...

www.archwaysandceilings.com

Archways & Ceilings- affordable, quick and easy to install (DIY Friendly). The leader in curved framing since 1988. Over one million archways and ceiling kits ...

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A Customer Review With Archways & Ceilings Made Easy

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Aluminum Puzzle Lamp

2012-01-13T22:27:00.000-06:00

Dying to try this gorgous lamp, apparently made with just one pattern and strips of aluminum:

Excerpt from: http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/pattern_puzzle_lamp_shades/

"On a related site (related to the IQ light site: www.iqlight.com/) I found some more cool lamps. The one below is famous, not that I knew that. It’s called “Turbo” and was designed by Louis Weisdorf (there’s no wiki on him!) in 1965.

Here’s another photo of it. Apparently you can still buy these for a mere £499.00 (36″) or £852.00 (62″). Ouch.

It is described as:

TURBO is built by 12 identical white-sprayed spiral shaped [aluminum] segments whose exterior follow the face of a globe. The inner part of the TURBO light does not blind and the bulb is completely screened.

This lamp should be really easy -heh- since it’s made with only one pattern piece. Anyone care to sketch it out for us?"

DESIGNER CEILING LAMP SHADE, Puzzle Lamps, Paper lamps

2012-01-13T21:41:00.025-06:00

History of the Puzzle Lamp, from IQ light.com: http://www.iqlight.com/iqsys.htm

Designer Holger Strøm started taking an interest in the rhombic polyhedrons in the early 1970s while he was employed by the Kilkenny Design Workshops, Ireland.

As a packaging designer he used cardboard and paper for his experiments in search of the polygon best suited as an element for building lampshades.

The rhombus was chosen as the basic element, and the rhombic triacontahedron as the geometric model for the construction.

Assembly needed to be as simple as possible, and after several experiments a hook was placed in each corner of the rhombus, the hooks being connected in pairs by a soft curve. Regardless of whether three, four, or five elements meet, the corners form decorative circles.

...more: http://www.iqlight.com/iqsys.htm

Also called "Puzzle Lamps"

Here is a simplistic illustration showing the concept of construction using just the one pattern interlocking pattern piece (a discussion of the lamp shade geometry is here).

Below are two photos of lamps made by people over at Craftster. I think these are very striking. There’s no reason you couldn’t make some yourself. I think they’d look good in oaktag. I’ve made smaller lights (rather like luminarias) out of that before and they came out very nice.

(Note: I want to make the star shape, but haven't found instructions yet for this one!)

Source: http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/pattern_puzzle_lamp_shades/

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From IQ LIGHT.com:

Source: IQ Light.com: http://www.iqlight.com/iqsorts.htm

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Designer Lamps Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBjWzTGHHoo

Uploaded by bhui42 on Feb 5, 2011

Self assemble
DESIGNER CEILING LAMP SHADE

COLOR ------------- WHITE
MATERIAL----------TRANSLUCENT POLY CARBONATE PLASTIC
FEATURE----------- FLEXIBLE, UNBREAKABLE, DURABLE,
EASY WASHABLE
DESIGNER LAMP SHADES is fabulous for occasions like weddings and parties as it creates a unique and beautiful ambiance in any room or space.
LAMP SHADES will definitely make a
wonderful Christmas / Birthday / New Home-Owner
present and is also suitable for anyone who is up to a mind / Instead of using LAMPSHADES just as room / ceiling lightning's/ and light Pillar,
it could also be used as floor lamps, wall, .corner & ceiling mountings,
Shapes can be customized as per requirements and designs.

UNLIMTED MOODS:-
Let the lights reflect your mood. Choose the colors you feel.
UNLIMTED STYLES:-
Light up your party deck, dress up your shop, and romance your bedroom.
UNLIMTED IDEAS:-
With our premium quality material you can bend and twist to your desire, be it round oval, diamond........at least many different shades.
Lamps are made of a white plastic - so just change the color globe for a completely different effect.

Facebook: IQ Designer Lamp Shades

Home Decor · Phagwara

https://www.facebook.com/pages/IQ-Designer-Lamp-Shades/170731456283940?v=info&sk=info

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How to make a Ball with 30 elements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIAE5iQkpKw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

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Where to buy: Here's one place: http://puzzlelamp.blogspot.com/, puzzlelamp (at) gmail.com

I want to buy sheets. I know it's available somewhere in Guatemala City, but I'm not sure where. USA?

"TRANSLUCENT POLYCARBONATE PLASTIC" for lamps

www.alibaba.com ›

Source on Alibaba.com; Buy on AliExpress.com; Get Accurate Quotes from suppliers Post an RFQ now>>. View as: Product ... translucent polycarbonate plastic sheeting(China (Mainland)) ..... Translucent PC lamp cover(China (Mainland)) ...

Of course, someone is selling them under the IKEA name:

Pendant Ceiling Lampshade IKEA Light Cord ZE Light INV

http://www.secureonlineshopping.co.za/ikeastore/product/3819/pendant-ceiling-lampshade-ikea-light-cord.html

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These look like they are made out of paper: (Instructions in Spanish!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crzDSEU8mRo&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Esfera de papel (Parte 1 de 5) = Sphere of paper (Part 1 of 5)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crzDSEU8mRo&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Mostramos el procedimiento de construcción de una esfera de papel a partir de 30 piezas iguales distribuidas en cinco niveles de 5, 5, 10, 5 y 5 piezas. Más detalles sobre la construcción en el siguiente enlace:

= We show the construction method of a sphere of paper from 30 equal pieces spread over five levels of 5, 5, 10, 5 and 5 pieces. More details on the construction on the

http://www.aulataller.es/ejercicios/proyecto-tecnologia-eso-esfera/proyecto-tecnologia-ESO-esfera-01.html

Category:

Education

Tags:

How to put the lamp inside: (puzzle_lamp@yahoo.com.hk)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOlxIrLtbPo&context=C3614e4eADOEgsToPDskIJ9TaQk-lJKcM0fF1ACGvI

Source: IQ Designer Lamp Shades on Facebook, under "Profile Pictures"

https://www.facebook.com/pages/IQ-Designer-Lamp-Shades/170731456283940

Home Decor · Phagwara, email bhui42@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.258047674218984.70157.170731456283940&type=1
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From Craftster: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=231484.0

DIY IQ lights, posted by julibooli NOLA maker

« on: March 03, 2008 06:55:55 PM »

So, has everyone seen the IQ lightwww.iqlight.com? It's pretty awesome. BUT no self respecting craftster would pay $30 for 30 pieces of plastic, right? So I decided to make my own. I got a template from Readymade Magazine, but I modified it for two pieces on a page. You see, I just printed out the template on cardstock and cut out the shape!

Here's the template:

In order to cut out the little hooks, I used a hole punch so I didn't have to get into those tiny curves with my scissors. Made the work much easier!

My first lamp used 28 pieces:

And I'm not sure how many pieces are in my second lamp. I also am not sure how I made this!

I'm using 60w bulbs, and since the paper is not very close to the bulb I'm not really worried about fires. I'm using extension cords and added switches so that I can easily turn the lights on and off (my sockets are incredibly inconvenient).

This is a really neat project. It's amazing to see what you can make with just one shape. This would be fun to do with kids old enough to handle sharp scissors. Girl scouts maybe?


	THIS ROCKS Logged

www.MADEBYJULIANNE. com

www.madebyjulianne. etsy.com

100sft DIY Passive Solar Innovation for Home Heating

2012-01-09T15:43:00.003-06:00

Note: This is an even larger solar hot water system with a square frame... can't wait to try it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqhYViKxRts&feature=digest_sat

Uploaded by debeshbhattarai on Jan 7, 2012

This is a part of series with our home heating innovation DIY. The innovative black pipe absorber panel shall reduce the cost of home heating to a bare minimum. Our trial works for the solar heat collector and distribution system is almost complete. But this time we have increased the absorber panel size to 100 sft instead of usual 6' dia panel, which is almost approximately 4 times more.

We shall publish other relevant details as soon as possible...but this one includes some on site modification for better performance.

We are sure this shall help conserve energy to the extreme, truly a friendly DIY item for so many around the globe.

This work is an elaboration of our GE ecomagination entry
http://challenge.ecomagination.com/home/Passive-Solar-heater-Innovation-DIY
Highly illustrative Plastic Barrel solar video our latest posting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMLWQfSe14Y

and also follow our series on home heating innovation part 3 too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrqNALAxfwA

Cut glass bottles the EASY way

2012-01-09T15:34:00.003-06:00

Use a glass cutter taped down in a cake pan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1HxjmgpU_wo#!

More at: http://www.diypics.com/how-to-cut-glass-bottles/

and: http://www.instructables.com/

Gaviotas Engineering

2011-12-22T19:45:00.006-06:00

"Development means making people happy. Before you spend your money on roads and factories, you should first be sure that those are what your citizens really need." -Father Francis Lebret

Gaviotas engineers have been designing implements of sustainable technology for many years. They refuse to patent their inventions, believing that the importance of making sustainable technology available far exceeds the temptation of profit. The sleeve pump, solar kitchen, and solar kettle comprise only three examples of their collective ingenuity.

Water Technology
"Civilization has been a permanent dialogue between human beings and water." -Paolo Lugari

Sleeve Pumps
From soil studies undertaken the year after he founded Gaviotas, Lugari had learned that the region of the llanos was like a gigantic mattress suspended above a huge underground reservoir of clean, sand-filtered runoff water from the Andes. Nevertheless, eighty percent of the maladies suffered by llaneros and local indígenas were caused by water contamination near the surface. The first important task was to get at the pure water below.

Alonso Gutiérrez, one of the mechanical engineers at Gaviotas, found the solution when he was thinking about the inherent problems of piston-driven water pumps. One problem, for example, was the seal created by the water against the sides of the sleeve. To move a piston in a piston-driven water pump in order to make the enclosed water rise, you spent energy lifting it against the pressure of that seal, as well as against the weight of both the water and of the rod and piston. Instead of wasting energy by lifting a heavy piston, why not leave the piston in place within a lightweight plastic sleeve, and lift the sleeve instead? During the dry season the water table in the llanos usually dropped below the limit of conventional hand pumps, leaving disease-ridden surface streams as the only water source. But because Gutiérrez's sleeve pump didn't require applying force against atmospheric pressure, he was certain that it could pump water from a much deeper well. The sleeve would be so light that even a small child could work the pump.

When Luis Robles, another engineer, was explaining the concept of a pump handle to some children at the Gaviotas school, one of them observed that it was similar to half a seesaw. Robles then built a seesaw and attached it to a sleeve pump outside the kindergarten so that when children played on the seesaw, they also pumped water for the school. In the late 1980s, Gaviotans brought their sleeve pumps and other appropriate technology to more than 600 villages as part of the Colombian government's Agua Para Todos (Water for Everyone) program.

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Solar Energy
"With more people using more oil than ever, [petroleum] won't last forever. . . . Not everyone can afford an oil well: they're in just a few places. But everyone has a sunshine well. Someday they'll have to go to it." - Mario Calderón

Solar Kitchen
During the 1980s, Gaviotas designed and built a new hospital to serve Gaviotans and people in surrounding villages. They used solar technology and adapted various techniques in order to make the hospital energy- and self-sufficient. The engineers decided to circulate solar-heated, low-viscosity cottonseed oil around the pressure cookers in the kitchen because oil presented fewer problems than water in maintaining the necessary high temperatures.
As sunlight super-heated the oil, a heat siphon sucked it into a holding tank. At the flip of a toggle switch, a forty-watt micro-pump, run on batteries charged by photovoltaic cells, forced the hot cottonseed oil through coils that looped around six stainless-steel pressure cookers, then back up to the roof to re-heat. Insulation in the roof-top oil tank kept the closed system hot enough to operate twenty-four hours a day, and there was adequate charge left in the battery bank to illuminate the hospital all night with compact fluorescent bulbs, designed to operate on twelve-volt direct current.

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Solar Kettle
Gaviotas engineers also designed a solar kettle for the hospital. According to engineer Jaime Dávila, "the principle begins with an old country custom: boil water one day to drink the next, after it cools."

Dávila's goal was an inexpensive solar-operated system that would give unlimited boiled drinking water, already cooled to room temperature, straight from a tap any time of day. Furthermore, the device had to work under cloudy skies. Using an oxidized copper formula already developed, Gaviotas solar collectors already heated water to 120 degrees Fahrenheit under diffused light. Increasing their normal operating temperature just 10 percent would eliminate many unwanted microbes. From there, the Gaviotas engineers calculated that they would need to raise the water to full boiling temperature for at least two minutes to kill all pathogens.

They accomplished this with a very efficient heat exchanger. As untreated water was pumped into the solar panel, it traveled through one chamber of a double copper pipe. At the same time, water that was already boiled was flowing in the opposite direction through the pipe's other chamber, toward a reservoir tank connected to the tap. When the hot and cold water passed each other with just a thin copper membrane between them, the boiled water cooled down and the "raw" water warmed up—the heat exchange. Once inside the solar panel, the untreated—but now preheated—water's temperature rose quickly; from there, it only needed a little push from direct sunlight to boil.

Whenever a burst of sunshine brought the temperature to boiling, pressure forced the steam that formed through a one-way valve into an upper tank. From there, it condensed back into water, which flowed down through the heat exchanger to the faucet tap. Using a one-meter-square solar collector as its heat source, the kettle needed only one minute of direct sunlight to make water start to boil and pass through the one-way heat valve. Because the upper tank couldn't fill unless direct sunlight actually pushed purified water vapor through the valve, any water reaching the tap was always trustworthy. The storage capacity was great enough that, even allowing for days when the sun never broke through, the kettle delivered about eight gallons daily of pure drinking water—more than enough for an average family—only two degrees warmer than when it left the ground.

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Home | Pine Forest | Bibliography and Links

from: Weisman, Alan. Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World. White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1998.

More: http://mingo.info-science.uiowa.edu/~winter/engineering.html

Wiki Gaviotas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaviotas

See Saw Pump ~ children pump water

2011-12-22T19:27:00.005-06:00

http://www.spanpumpsindia.com/

JOY PUMP ……See Saw Pump

Joy pump is an innovative concept of pumping water from a bore well, a sump or a rain water collector tank. It uses playful energy of the children or the operators collectively to pump water. The Joy pump can draw water from a well and further lift it to an over head tank above the ground level for storage and distribution. It does not require electric power. It is an eco-friendly, child friendly pump.

Joy Pump

Advantages

Suitable for use on 100mm and above diameter bore well, sump or rainwater collector tank.
Can lift water up to 8m above ground for storage and distribution.
On line water purification devices can be used with either pumping or distribution system.
Easy to install and safe to use.
Low operation and maintenance cost.
Can be adopted with below ground assembly of any deep well hand pump.
Convenient for use in remote areas.

Technical Details

Construction Details	Fabricated Mild steel
Wing span	3 m
Play mechanism	Seesaw
Capacity	8-16 children
Ideal speed	40 strokes per minute
Out put	1500-2000 Liters per hour
Space requirement	6m x 1.5 m minimum
Operating depth	Up to 80 m depth
Cylinder	Direct action reciprocating cylinder Of any deep well hand pump
Deliver head	8 m
Weight	600 kgs.
Riser pipes	As per user requirement

Applications
The Joy pump can be used for water supply in

Schools, for drinking, sanitation and personal hygiene
Institutions for drinking and sanitation
Public garden, drinking, sanitation and watering plants
Community centers for drinking and sanitation
Small communities for drinking
Relief camps for drinking.

Send Enquiry

- : Our Product Range : -
Joy Pump (See Saw Pump)	Joy Pump (Merry- Go-round Pump)	Force Lift Hand Pump & Hand Cum Power Pump
Hand Washing Facility	India Mark Deep Well Hand Pump	Hand Pumps
Treadle Pumps	Pressure Treadle Pumps	Solar Powered Water Pump

Home|Profile|Contact|Enquiry

How to build a Massachusetts garage out of tires

2011-12-20T21:56:00.001-06:00

Uploaded by longwayhome100 on Dec 20, 2011

Method for using earth-packed tires to build a 2-car garage.

By Elizabeth Rose for www.treadbare.blogspot.com/2011/12/whoah/html (blog link doesn't seem to work anymore, but this is written on the video). Great video. Looks real easy and so "conservative." Fits right into the neighborhood! Who would have guessed it was tires?

Friends of Gaviotas: Energy: not created, not destroyed

2011-12-19T13:17:00.011-06:00

January 3, 2009

By natural law, energy is neither created nor destroyed – it simply transforms from one medium into another. No matter where you are, it is always there for the taking. One might even say that it is so close, that most people are unable to see it! One should always use all the locally available energy first – tap all locally available resources first – before even thinking of bringing in energy from somewhere else. In that spirit, here is what Gaviotas has done recently:

For years, Gaviotas has been generating its electricity by means of a steam turbine running on wood culled from its forest. This year, the villagers have developed a novel fuel mix made of turpentine (distilled resin tapped from the pine trees in the forest) and plant oil (extracted from the fruit of the palm trees in the forest or from recycled cooking oil) that now runs all their diesel engines – electric generators, tractors, and soon trucks as well. All that was needed were stainless steel filters (developed in-house) to replace the regular paper oil filters in their engines. This new fuel mix doesn’t require any changes to the engines’ diesel fuel injection pumps.

Gaviotas features a community dining hall that is very popular with the villagers. Its kitchen makes about 200 meals a day. The massive cooking stoves have now been equipped with internal piping through which water is heated to near boiling and is then circulated without a pump, simply via natural convection (thermosiphon). This new heat exchange system replaces the 30 solar collectors that used to sit on the roof of the dining hall. The old collectors (also thermosiphon with no moving parts) are still in top shape, so they will simply get a new paint job and be sold for $1,000 a piece!

Biodiversity in the Gaviotas forest continues to increase. The villagers have planted a mix of pine and palm, and now fruit trees, and nature is adding the rest: hundreds of native plant and animal species are emerging that had not been seen on these arid plains in ages.

http://www.friendsofgaviotas.org/Updates/Entries/2009/1/3_Travels_Through_The_East.html

Watch this excellent 25 minute film about Paolo Lugari at:
http://web.mac.com/giocondaperezsnyder/Site/Paolo_Lugari.html

Alan Weisman @ Duke University.2008. Reflections on the 10th Anniversary of his book:
http://web.me.com/giocondaperezsnyder/Alan_Weisman/Alan_Weisman.html

Buy the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Gaviotas-Village-Reinvent-Alan-Weisman/dp/0930031954/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t

An excellent Amazon review:

interesting, December 17, 2004

Wendy

This review is from: Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World (Paperback)

In 1998, journalist Alan Weisman collected and presented information about a little known, yet quite monumental, village known as Gaviotas. To get there, one must travel 16 hours by car from the nearest major Columbian city, Bogotá. Even then the path there is not a smooth one; rough, muddy roads and severe political unrest serve as some major barriers in getting to Gaviotas. So why then is such an arduous trip worth it; in essence, Gaviotas is yet another tiny village located in a generally uninhabitable region and possesses none of the modern modes of transportation or communication that we are accustomed to. While in a sense these aspects may be true of Gaviotas, it is also undeniable that this community holds as one of the most efficient, supportive, and thoughtful communities on the planet.

Started in 1971 by a group of Bogotá scientists, Gaviotas originally was created as a sort of scientific experiment, a reaction to the way things were - which clearly wasn't working. A Gaviotas saying goes "the real maturity in life is to realize your dreams" and the founders of Gaviotas did just that when they decided to create their own society. The harsh life and extreme poverty that had been rampant in developing urban areas paired with the blatant depletion of natural resources was enough to spark the idea that maybe there should be a change. Yet instead of trying to make changes in the system already in place, this group of determined individuals took on the radical notion of creating an entirely new, segregated, yet completely self-sufficient, place to live. And that is just what happened.

My comment on this excellent review: makes me not only want to read the book but live it!

Another interesting excerpt from an Amazon review:

A Book to Reinvent Our Goals, September 14, 2001

By Jason N. Mical (Bellevue, WA, USA)

Alan Weisman, a journalist hired by NPR to investigate solutions for environmental crises, spent years collecting information in a tiny, remote village at the eastern edge of the war-torn country of Colombia. That village was Gaviotas; this book is his result."

...

Gaviotas ~ Sustainable Living Community

2011-12-19T12:21:00.003-06:00

Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2011
From: robert.schorlemmer@usa.net
To: gaviotas@sustainablesources.com
Subject: [Gaviotas] Gaviotas - Invitation to Visit in March 2012
Message-ID: <241PLqJwV7984S03.1324113801@web03.cms.usa.net

Hi all,

We are organizing a trip to Gaviotas (20 people or so) for March 2012, at the invitation of the villagers and Paolo Lugari. You'll find more info about this at: www.friendsofgaviotas.org (there is a discount for signing up in December). Please spread the word, so we can fill the plane that will take us there :-)

Best,

Robert

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From: http://www.friendsofgaviotas.org/Friends_of_Gaviotas/Home.html

Gaviotas is a village of about 200 people in Colombia, South America. For three decades, Gaviotans - peasants, scientists, artists, and former street kids - have struggled to build an oasis of imagination and sustainability in the remote, barren savannas of eastern Colombia, an area ravaged by political terror. They have planted millions of trees, thus regenerating an indigenous rainforest. They farm organically and use wind and solar power. Every family enjoys free housing, community meals, and schooling. There are no weapons, no police, no jail. There is no mayor.

The United Nations named the village a model of sustainable development.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez has called founder Paolo Lugari the "inventor of the world." ...more

LEED Tutorial Sample

2011-12-19T10:30:00.001-06:00

Uploaded by GREENillustrated on Oct 17, 2009

GREEN-illustrated.com provides illustrated video tutorials to better explain the concepts of the LEED® Credits & Prerequisites

Category:

Education

The Art of Making Biomass Briquettes

2011-12-18T10:48:00.004-06:00

Uploaded by kmesa510 on Mar 25, 2009

Energy Links - Biomass Briquettes: Theres an art to making biomass briquettes, the low-cost environmentally friendly, cooking-fuel alternative to traditional charcoal and firewood. Here a Ugandan community member uses a mold and Mini-Bryant press to shape and drain the briquettes, one of the final steps of the process. Learn more about making briquettes at http://www.accion.org/Page.aspx?pid=1554.

This video was taken during an Energy Links pilot project in Uganda in March 2009. The Center for Financial Inclusion's (www.centerforfinancialinclusion.org) Energy Links project a new pilot program in Uganda aims to bring renewable energy to microfinance clients, contribute to reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and give MFIs a viable business-in-a-box.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

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More: LegacyFound.org

Legacy Foundation provides training, technology and media services for biomass fuel briquette production, environmental conservation and income generation throughout the world.

The Mission of the Legacy Foundation is to promote sustainable human development and preserve our environment through the integration of technology innovation, media, and management. The Legacy Foundation has ongoing partnerships with individuals, groups and institutions in over 30 nations world wide.

See many hard copy or downloadable Technical & Training Manuals:

Briquette Making: A Users Manul $35

See details

SPECIAL: Full set of four manuals (CD)

Fuel Briquette Press Kit: A Construction Manual, Briquette Making: A Users Manual, Fuel Briquettes: A Trainer's Manual, and Fuel Briquettes: The Theory and Applications From Around the World.

See details

TMC-1™ Operations Manual

The TMC frees up that labor to effectively increase production output by up to 50% while greatly reducing the drudgery of the overall effort.

Individual price: $35.00

YouTube Video on how to make briquettes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=EOFbQ-_u0qA

ECO Fuels, Biomass fuel briquette production, environmental conservation & income generation for sustainable development.

How to make Charcoal Briquettes from Agricultural Residues

2011-12-17T20:05:00.001-06:00

The process of making charcoal briquettes from agricultural waste is not new. Many institutions have experimented on different agricultural residues to find out which raw materials are possible for charcoal making. They encourage the use of dry organic material (also called biomass) that is unsuitable for animal or human consumption, or for composting such as sugar cane bagasse, palm leaves or bamboo, coconut shells and husks, straw and reeds, corn cobs and other farm crop wastes.

Agricultural residues from harvested crops, using biomass charcoal briquetting techniques, can be converted from piles of waste into useful and enviro-friendly briquettes. It can be sold to generate additional income for the family.

How to Make Charcoal Briquettes? Below is the process from India Development Gateway – Biomass Charcoal Briquetting. Use this method on how to make charcoal briquettes, and produce your own homemade ones.

Biomass Charcoal Briquetting

2011-12-17T20:00:00.006-06:00

Rural Energy

Agriculture | Health | Primary Education | Social Welfare | e-Governance

Biomass Charcoal Briquetting

The agricultural residues are produced abundantly after harvest of each crop in our villages. Most of these residues are burnt in the open field. However using Biomass Charcoal Briquetting technologies, these residues, can be used for generating an alternative fuel which is cost effective and environmentally friendly. It can also add income to the family.
What is briquetting
Briquetting is the process of converting low bulk density biomass into high density and energy concentrated fuel briquettes
Methodology
There are two different methods of charcoal making.
1. Direct method The direct method is to heat and form an incomplete combustion of the organic matter that results in the formation of charcoal.
2. Indirect method In the indirect method an external heat source is used to "burn" organic matter kept in a closed but vented airless chamber. The indirect method results in production of high quality charcoal with less smoke and pollutants

MCRC’s method of charcoal briquetting

Requirements:

1. Locally available biomass (eg casuarina leaf litter, sugarcane trash, rice husk, coir pith, groundnut shells, etc) 2. Carbonizing chamber (furnace ) 3. Binder (starch or cassava flour) 4. Mini Briquetting machine (10kg/hr)

Stepwise process of charcoal making:

1. Collection of biomass

Collect the locally available biomass, sort them, chop the large-size raw materials into smaller pieces and dry at sunlight.
2. Carbonization
i. Designing the Furnace
• Outer drum : A 200lits. metal oil drum with the top cut out and a 12" width x 10" height hole cut in the lower side
• Two iron rids (8”) has to be fixed at the bottom of the metal drum running parallel from one side to the other side. This iron rods act as base to support the stainless steel inner drum.
• Inner drum : A 100lits stainless steel drum with proper lids and six (3/8") holes at the bottom.
• The inner drum is placed into the larger drum.

ii. Carbonizing the biomass
• The biomass is tightly packed into the inner drum and fired for 45minutes to 1hr (Depending upon the biomass) using biomass.
• After firing, the carbonized biomass in the inner drum has to collected and weighed. In this method 30 % of carbonized char can be obtained.

3. Preparation of binder
The binder material is used for strengthening the briquettes For every 100 kg of total weight of carbonized charcoal powder, prepare a binder mixture by adding 5 to 6 kg of starch or cassava flour to 60 - 100 litres of water (based on the weight of the raw materials)
4. Mixing
Mix such that every particle of carbonised charcoal material is coated with binder. It will enhance charcoal adhesion and produce identical briquettes.
5. Briquetting. The charcoal mixture is made into briquettes either manually or using machines. Pour the mixture directly into the briquetting mould / machine to form uniform-sized briquettes.
6. Drying and Packaging
Collect the briquettes in a tray, dry them under the sunlight, pack them in plastic bags and seal
General Characteristics of briquettes
Moisture : 7.1%-7.8%
Volatile Matter : 13.0%-13.5%
Fixed Carbon : 81.0%-83.0%
Ash : 3.7%-7.7%
Sulfur : 0.0%
Heating Value : 7,100-7,300 kcal/kg
Density : 970kg/m3

Advantages of the technology:

1. Smokeless: The charcoal briquettes burn without any smoke during ignition and burning. 2. Low Ash content: Minimum residual ash is formed (less than 5% of the original weight of the charcoal). 3. Higher Fixed Carbon & calorific value: Normally the concentration of fixed carbon will be about 82%. The calorific value of charcoal briquettes is 7500 Kcal/KG. 4. Odourless: The biomass charcoal briquette contains minimum evaporative substances, thus eliminating the possibility of odour. 5. Longer burning hours: Two times longer burning hours compared to hardwood charcoal. 6. Sparkless: These charcoal briquettes will not produce sparks as compared to hardwood charcoal. 7. Less crack & better strength: Less crack & better strength make the charcoal burn for a long time.

Links and more:

http://www.indg.in/rural-energy/technologies-under-rural-energy/energy-efficiency/biomass-charcoal-briquetting/

For further details please contact

Director
Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre (MCRC)
Taramani
Chennai 600 113
Tamilnadu, India.

Phone: 044-22430937
Fax 044-22434268
E.Mail : energy@mcrc.murugappa.org
amm-mcrc.org

More: http://www.indg.in/rural-energy/technologies-under-rural-energy/energy-efficiency/biomass-charcoal-briquetting/

Also see a very impressive list of ongoing and completed projects from 1971 to current:

http://amm-mcrc.org/Programmes/Projects.html

13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence

2011-12-17T19:00:00.000-06:00

inhabitat.com: Energy

by Andrew Michler, 08/19/11

filed under: biomimicry,Features,Renewable Energy,Solar Power

While most 13-year-olds spend their free time playing video games or cruising Facebook, one 7th grader was trekking through the woods uncovering a mystery of science. After studying how trees branch in a very specific way, Aidan Dwyer created a solar cell tree that produces 20-50% more power than a uniform array of photovoltaic panels. His impressive results show that using a specific formula for distributing solar cells can drastically improve energy generation. The study earned Aidan a provisional U.S patent – it’s a rare find in the field of technology and a fantastic example of how biomimicry can drastically improve design.
Photo by Cristian Bortes
Aidan Dwyer took a hike through the trees last winter and took notice of patterns in the mangle of branches. His studies into how they branch in very specific ways lead him to a central guiding formula, the Fibonacci sequence. Take a number, add it to the number before it in a sequence like 1+1=2 then 2+1=3 then 3+2=5, 8, 13, 21 and so on a very specific pattern emerges. Turns out the pattern and its corresponding ratios are reflected in nature all the time, and Aidan’s keen observation of how trees branch according to the formula lead him to test the theory. First he measured tree branches by how often they branch and at what degree from each other.

To see why they branch this way he built a small solar array using the Fibonacci formula, stepping cells at specific intervals and heights. He then compared the energy output with identical cells set in a row. Aidan reports the results: “The Fibonacci tree design performed better than the flat-panel model. The tree design made 20% more electricity and collected 2 1/2 more hours of sunlight during the day. But the most interesting results were in December, when the Sun was at its lowest point in the sky. The tree design made 50% more electricity, and the collection time of sunlight was up to 50% longer!”
His results did turn out to be incorrect though. Voltage (what he measured) is not an accurate measure of energy from a solar cell– he measured higher voltage simply because he swept a larger portion of sky. Solar cells in series are as only as good as the weakest one, so the tree design simply relies on the worst positioned cell for amperage.
This story is very inspiring and I think that Aiden’s passion to unravel a mystery shows how exciting the path of scientific discovery is. Impressively he is demonstrating the power of biomimicry — a concept that many see as the pinnacle of good design, but one that thus far has been exceptionally difficult to achieve. Way to go!

More: 13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

+ The Secret of the Fibonacci Sequence in Trees
Via Treehugger

The spiral on trees showing the Fibonacci Sequence

Aidan studied leaf arrangements

Aidan measuring the spiral pattern

More & how he did it: http://www.amnh.org/nationalcenter/youngnaturalistawards/2011/aidan.html

Japanese Sit Tub & Magnesium

2011-12-17T18:54:00.014-06:00

The world is made by artists...

(See "before and after" photos below).

In the absence of hot springs or hot volcanic water,

the Japanese "have it going on!"

Twenty minutes in a warm Epsom Salts bath

and "all the pain goes away."

No pills required. Magnesium is Magic.

Stylish Japanese Sit Bath Tub 3

Stylish Japanese Sit Bath Tub by Victoria and Albert Photo Gallery

Japanese Sit Tub

Wow! Some of these are really nice, and I think they can be hand-painted with acrylic paints.
I am going to make some for sale here in Panajachel,
as bathtubs in Guatemala are few and far between, and expensive.
We could do the solar hot water heater with the 55 gal. drum -
same thing as a rain barrel, almost, or maybe use this actual TUB as the water container.
Put a lid on it and keep it outside, with an arbor with flowering vines above and around.
We could sell the whole thing, kit-and-kaboodle.
I might be able to do this on the roof of my new workspace (former restaurant).

http://www.kubodo.com/2011/01/14/stylish-japanese-sit-bath-tub-by-victoria-and-albert/stylish-japanese-sit-bath-tub-2/

VICTORIA & ALBERT Sorrento Soaker Sit Bathtub 55 inches

A modern sit tub based on the traditional Japanese ofuro that offers a refreshingly different experience - side by side shared bathing.

Available at: DesignerPlumbing.com

* * * * *

Japanese ofuros

www.rhtubs.com/ofuro.htm

Japanese ofuro's. In Japan, no daily ritual is more uniquely important to the individual's well being than the bath at the end of the day. The ofuro has been used ...

Read more with this excellent article from Roberts Hot Tubs: http://www.rhtubs.com/ofuro.htm
* * * * *

Image Search for: build a small japanese bath
Outdoors with beautiful garden houses, trellis, flowers and more,
along with the solar hot water system - no panels, just black plastic pipe and a 55 gal drum.
This will be a great, inexpensive project for 2012!

build a small japanese bath. images.png
1355K

Timber Framed Arches and Corbels

2011-12-16T21:27:00.006-06:00

We are different. Because we focus on the frame.

36 Fairbanks Road
N. Springfield, VT 05150
(802) 886-1917
(802) 886-6188 Fax
vermonttimberworks.com

How to Light Up Your House for $65 with DIY Solar Energy

2011-12-16T21:17:00.001-06:00

Uploaded by tronjongenerators on Jul 29, 2010

Watch this video!

http://tronjon.com provides power generation equipment for home, recreational, and industrial use. Find power generators of every size and wattage, no matter how large or small your power needs are. Select from many of the reknown brands such as Coleman, Yamaha, Generac, and more. Our power generator catalog includes portable generators, silent generators, gas compressor generators, power take off generators, belt driven generator heads and more.

Category:

Science & Technology

Solar Powered Kart Made in the Philippines

2011-12-16T21:04:00.003-06:00

Uploaded by ffgsolar on Mar 6, 2011

The Solar Powered Go Kart is Made by Solar Power Expert from FFG Solar Power Trading based in San Lorenzo South, Sta. Rosa City, Laguna , Philippines. Powered by 190 watts Mono Crystalline Solar Panel, 200watts DC Brushless Motor, 50AH/24V Battery and Digital Controller. Eco friendly and no emission.

Category:

Science & Technology

Grow & Cook Tilapia / Talapia Fish

2011-12-15T11:09:00.006-06:00

Tilapia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilapia - Traducir esta página
This article is about the fish that fall under the term tilapia in common usage. ... Historically, they have been of major importance in artisan fishing in Africa and ...
Coin in the fish's mouth - Aquaculture of tilapia - Tilapia as exotic species
Talapia Fish Recipe | Group Recipes
www.grouprecipes.com/talapia-fish - Traducir esta página
Our most trusted Talapia Fish recipes. Reviewed by millions of home cooks.
Tilapia - Definition - Tilapia Fish is an African Fish that can now be ...
bbq.about.com/cs/fish/g/blgt0001.htm - Traducir esta página
This fish is low in fat and perfect for grilling. ... Definition: This small, low fat fish originally comes from Africa where it has been ... Common Misspellings: Talapia ...
Cooks.com - Recipes - Talapia Fish
www.cooks.com › Recipes - Traducir esta página
Results 1 - 10 of 14 – TALAPIA WITH PESTO. In a blender, combine ... the thicker side. Arrange fish in a baking dish ... bocconcini or mozzarella cheese on top of ...

http://www.ehow.com/how_5845276_grow-fish-55_gallon-drums.html

Growing fish in a barrel - Survivalist Forum
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=9052

43 publicaciones - 12 autores - Última entrada: 11 Oct. 2008
Growing fish in a barrel Farming, Gardening & Recipes. ... small tanks, but that's a very different situation than larger fish like tilapia and catfish. ...

How to grow fish in barrells:
Talapia Fish - YouTube

► 0:11► 0:11
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5tNYKJyEUQ19 Feb. 2011
Tilapiines are also among the easiest and most profitable fish to farm. This is due to their omnivorous diet ...

1 MILLION Pounds Organic Food On 3 Acres

2011-12-15T08:44:00.012-06:00

From a Group of Farmers, Educators and Innovators:

Reposted from Wake Up World

How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres.

UPDATE 26th July 2011 -The response we have received from this short story is amazing, but created many questions from subscribers who needed further information. We have since looked into this and are happy to share with you detailed information on this amazing organisation called Growing Power. It would appear that there are many subscribers of Wake Up World who have been tasked with a similar project in their local community (though perhaps not on this scale) and we trust that the new article will be of use to those who required further details.

Click here for a detailed explanation of how the below is done, though we suggest watching the below movie first as it is not included in the new article.

Want to jump straight in with step by step instructions on how to set this up in your very own home? It is cheap and easy to create. Details here

Original Story

I came across this video of a man who has figured out a system to grow 1 million pounds of food on 3 acres each and every year. How are they doing this?

* By producing 10,000 fish

* Using 300 to 500 yards of worm compost

* By utilizing vertical space

* Having 3 acres of land in green houses

* Using 1 simple aquaponic pump

* Food is grown all year by using heat from the compost piles

A packed greenhouse produces a crop value of $5 Square Foot! ($200,000/acre).

Can you imagine if places like this started popping up all over the world? It would be one giant step towards self-reliance. Food self-sufficiency is a major step towards being sovereign. If you are not able to start your own garden, consider finding a community garden or hooking up with a small local farm.

The video shows “The Urban Farmer” (Will Allen from Growing Power) who’s taken Aquaponics to the extreme, both videos are taken on Will’s farm.

http://youtu.be/jV9CCxdkOng or http://vimeo.com/15997939

Create What You Have Seen In The Movie At Your Own Home

PART 2 – How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres

Will Allen in Greenhouse Courtsey of Growing Power

The response we received from our original story (How 1 MILLION Pounds of Organic Food Can Be Produced on 3 Acres) was outstanding, but at the same time created many questions from subscribers who needed further information. If you have not seen the original story, please click here. We have since looked into this further and we are happy to share with you all information on this amazing organisation. It would appear that there are many subscribers of Wake Up World who have been tasked with a similar project in their local community (though perhaps not on this scale) and we trust that the following information will be of use to those who required further details. We would love to hear from anyone who is putting this into practice.

The co-founder of this initiative is called Will Allen and he helped create the company “Growing Power." Growing Power began with a farmer, a plot of land, and a core group of dedicated young people. Today, their love of the land and their dedication to sharing knowledge is changing lives.

Will Allen, Chief Executive Officer believes, “If people can grow safe, healthy, affordable food, if they have access to land and clean water, this is transformative on every level in a community. I believe we cannot have healthy communities without a healthy food system.”

... more: http://wakeup-world.com/2011/07/26/part-2-how-1-million-pounds-of-organic-food-can-be-produced-on-3-acres/

NOTE: I can't wait to try this here at Lake Atitlan, Guatemala. We grew oysters years ago via Aquaculture in Pescadero, CA, and I can't wait to try fish and vegetables here now. Plus we can help all the people around the lake in the many villages that do not have access to healthy, organic or sufficient food. What a wonderful benefit for all concerned! God bless people like this who do such good works for the world.

I am going to try and get a pdf transcript of this video made so we can use it with people that don't have access to computers or internet. I believe they are using "Talapia" fish. I found a lot of info about growing fish in 55 gal barrels, and lots more about Tilapia fish.

How to Grow Fish in 55-Gallon Drums:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5845276_grow-fish-55_gallon-drums.html

Talapia Fish - YouTube (Tilapia)
► 0:11► 0:11	www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5tNYKJyEUQ19 Tilapiines are also among the easiest and most profitable fish to farm. This is due to their omnivorous diet ...

"The winds of grace blow all the time; all we need do is set our sails."

Flat pack furniture / Muebles del paquete plano

2011-12-10T23:28:00.001-06:00

Flat pack furniture / Muebles del paquete plano
1 message

Catherine S. Todd

Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 11:26 PM

Dear Amilcar, I would like to develop some of this furniture for the shelving and tables in our workroom / showroom. Do you think this would work in the work space / artists atelier? See link for photos and more. This furniture is made from a sheet of plywood or cardboard. We can sell the furniture also. CT

= Estimado Amilcar, me gustaría desarrollar algunos de estos muebles para las estanterías y mesas en nuestro taller / sala de exposición. ¿Crees que esto iba a funcionar en el espacio de trabajo / estudio los artistas? Este mobiliario está hecho de una lámina de plywood o cartón. Podemos vender los muebles también. Vea el enlace para fotos y más. CT

http://dornob.com/flat-pack-furniture-for-an-all-in-one-interior-design/

Flat-Pack Furniture for an All-in-One Interior Design

Flat pack designs are in danger of becoming altogether too dominated by stylistic affectations and functionless trends. This refreshingly pragmatic vision for flat pack furniture blends the best qualities a flat pack strategy has to offer: portability, sustainability and modularity. In short: practical, simple and functional elegance.

= Paquete de diseños planos están en peligro de convertirse en algo demasiado dominado por las afectaciones de estilo y tendencias sin función. Esta visión refrescante y pragmáticas para los muebles del paquete plano combina las mejores cualidades de una estrategia de empaquetamiento plana tiene para ofrecer: la portabilidad, la sostenibilidad y la modularidad. En resumen: la elegancia práctica, sencilla y funcional.

transformando-plegable-cuarto-diseño2

Each unit in this flat pack collection is designed to be composed of two standard-sized plywood boards folded flat together with a hinge holding them together. Selectively punched-out portions of their surfaces can then be bent into configurations that serve individual and joint purposes. They are part furniture, part spatial separator – acting as both object and wall in one.
= Cada unidad de esta colección de paquete plano está diseñado para ser integrado por dos tableros de contrachapado de tamaño estándar abatidos junto con una bisagra de la celebración de juntas. Selectivamente en sacabocados partes de su superficie se puede doblar en configuraciones que sirven a los propósitos individuales y colectivos. Ellos son los muebles parte, el separador de parte espacial - actuando como objeto y la pared en uno.

transformando-modular-cartón-room1

Many of the flat pack elements of these designs would work as stand-alone furniture objects within a varied interior design. However, they are also intended to form – if desired – a unified series of arrangeable elements, a kind of miniature modular room set to fit any possible furniture need. Best of all, they are light-weight and easy to collapse and reconfigure at will.

= Muchos de los elementos del paquete plano de estos diseños que funcionan como objetos muebles independientes dentro de un diseño interior variado. Sin embargo, también están destinados a ser - si lo desea - una serie unificada de los elementos arrangeable, una especie de sala en miniatura configuración modular para adaptarse a cualquier necesidad de mobiliario posible. Lo mejor de todo, son de peso ligero y fácil de colapso y volver a configurar a voluntad.

See more designs under Space-Saving or in the Interiors category:

Flat Pack Boxes Convert into 7 Styles of Storage Furniture

Make Room: Small Space-Saving & Flat-Pack Furniture ‘Mat’

Flat Pack Plywood Furniture Designs

Free Delivery?! Flat-Pack Modular ‘Pizza Box’ Furniture Kit

Ver más diseños en ahorro de espacio o en la categoría de Interiores:
Cajas planas Paquete Convertir en 7 estilos de los muebles de almacenamiento
Make Room: 'Mat' pequeñas ahorro de espacio y muebles del paquete plano-
Flat Pack diseños de muebles de contrachapado
Entrega gratuita? "Pizza Box 'Flat-Pack Kit Muebles Modulares

--

Catherine Todd
3007 Bent Tree Dr. Oxford NC 27565 USA
H 919.693.0853 U.S. cell 919.605.0727

"The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need do is set our sails."

Guatemalan Arts & Crafts (GAC)
AtitlanArts.com
Panajachel, Lake Atitlan
Guatemala cell (first dial 011 from the U.S.)
(502) 4198.2214 new
LakeAtitlanDirectory.com
Travel: lakeatitlan.blogspot.com/
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catherinetodd/sets/
Eco-Architecture: catherinetoddarchitecture.blogspot.com/

2 attachments

Flat Pack Furniture. Muebles del paquete plano.png
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Flat Pack Furniture. Muebles del paquete plano2.png
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Mobile Edible Wall

2011-11-28T15:06:00.001-06:00

MEWU EDU Video

agreenroofdotcom

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUiJl9HaJic

A Green Roof - Green Living Technologies

agreenroof.com/Cached

A Green Roof - Green Living Technologies works with sustainable green technologies associated with green vertical green walls, green installations, and a ...

Walls agreenroof.com/walls/ patented green living walls. Go Vertical. As we developed ...	About agreenroof.com/about/ Green Living Technologies International, LLC (GLTi) has ...
Roofs agreenroof.com/roofs/ patented green living roofs. A Green Living Roof offers many ...	Panels & trays agreenroof.com/roofs/panels-trays/ green living roofs: patented panels and trays. Panels vs ...
Urban farms agreenroof.com/urban-farms/ Urban Farms — GLT Food Factories and Mobile Edible Wall ...	Green Living Walls \| Green ... agreenroof.com/2010/06/green-living-walls/ As we developed and installed Green Living Roofs at ...
More results from agreenroof.com »

Vertical Wall Gardening: "Grow up" in a small garden

2011-11-28T14:39:00.006-06:00

http://www.instructables.com/id/VERTICAL-VEGETABLES-quotGrow-upquot-in-a-smal/

''How to solve a problem like cats digging and toileting in the vegetable patch'''''', and growing veg in a very small garden. I needed a solution and the answer occurred to me after watching The CheIsea Flower Show on TV and seeing walls of flowers and herbs. The only thing I had to hand was a hanging pocket shoe store and I decided to use it to grow my plants in. I have included the dates I took the photographs to give readers an idea how quickly the veg grew.

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Step 1 Materials needed

- Hanging pocket shoe organiser /store. (comment: buy at the Dollar Store + put plastic cups in them!)
- Pole and attachments ( curtain pole or pipe fittings, screws).
- Strong metal saucepan or utensil hanging hooks
- Compost of a good quality moisture holding type.
- Selection of plants or seeds... e.g. mixed leaf salad, herbs,sorrel, peas, mini tomatoes.
- Piece of wood 2"x2" as long as the width of the pocket store to keep the base of pockets away from the wall.
- Trough planter to catch drips.

More...: http://www.instructables.com/id/VERTICAL-VEGETABLES-quotGrow-upquot-in-a-smal/

------

Green wall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wall
You +1'd this publicly. Undo
They are also referred to as living walls, biowalls, vertical gardens or more ... are made up of climbing plants either growing directly on a wall or, more recently, ...
How to Grow an Edible, Vertical Garden in Five Steps - Cities - GOOD
www.good.is/post/how-to-grow-an-edible-vertical-garden-in-5-steps/
You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Feb 24, 2010 – We talked to Ms. Glasser about how to make our (vertical) gardens grow. 1. Find a south-facing wall or fence. Most vegetables need at least ...

Uses Wooly Pockets on a wall: http://www.woollypocket.com/ (very expensive but a good idea)

and Green Living Technologies: http://agreenroof.com/

$2000 Available for Green Living Wall Garden_MEWU (Mobile Edible Wall)

Friday, November 18th, 2011 - 8:21 am.

George Irwin, CEO

Whole Kids Foundation

The School Garden Grant Program is a collaboration between Whole Kids Foundation, Whole Foods Market and FoodCorps. Thanks to the generosity of Whole Foods Market customers, Whole Kids Foundation is able to provide grants of $2,000 to support school garden projects in the US, UK and Canada.
This funding can be applied toward a GLTi Mobile Edible Wall Unit!

Mobile Edible walls – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUiJl9HaJic

NBC – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YM_ugzOg2wI&feature=related

Link to the full grant!

WindowFarms.org ~ Garden in your window year-round

2011-11-26T10:45:00.003-06:00

TED Talks video:

Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment

http://youtu.be/YhvfOlPYifY

go to WindowFarms.org for

Instructions in English and Spaish

http://our.windowfarms.org/instructions_dev/?language=6&section=1

Window farm instructions in Spanish. Surely there is a way to do this without electricity, using gravity and feeding from the top? We grew plants in windows for years and although I know the constant stream of nutrients and LED lights works for low-light situations, maybe there's a way to use this on walls or outside windows.

http://our.windowfarms.org/instructions_dev/?language=2&section=1

Google Translate:

Wired meets the woman behind Sugru

2011-11-22T09:15:00.004-06:00

Wired Magazine on SUGRU

By Charlie Burton

06 May 2010

Perry Curties

Comments 3

This article was taken from the June issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by subscribing online

Broken bike seat? Cracked cups? Don’t bin them -- Jane ní Dhulchaointigh wants you to hack them better, and she’s invented a product to help.
Sugru is a Play-Doh-like substance with waterproof, adhesive and heat-resistant qualities, and it sets at room temperature. Launched last December, all 3,000 packets rapidly sold out -- so now production is at ten times that scale. Ní Dhulchaointigh, 31, had the idea while she was at the Royal College of Art in 2003.
“I was making things with silicone sealants and sawdust, and started using the leftovers around the house,” she says at her east London base. “I modified a knife handle to make it more comfortable. My boyfriend said, 'Imagine if everyone could do that -- like with stiff jam-jar lids.' It was a great idea.” But it took seven years, two experts and the materials department at Queen Mary, University of London, to create a silicone that would be sticky but would also set rock hard without heating.

The result is a substance officially called Formerol. Each pack includes hack suggestions, though ní Dhulchaointigh has seen some original uses: "Someone sculpted a pair of hands coming out of their bathroom sink to hold the soap." This enthusiasm, she says, is down to the growth of user-generated content online. "If digital stuff can be manipulated then people are going to expect it from physical products as well."

Want to learn how to hack things better? We can tell you how.

Wired Blog

How to 'hack things better'

By Charlie Burton

15 December 09

YouTube: meet sugru

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeJsH5WL9IE&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE3jkwMzrrY&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Getting started with SUGRU: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzS3DkQdG3Y&feature=related

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sugru/118586600911?v=wall&sk=wall

Hotel Playa Linda Projecto

2011-11-05T15:41:00.010-06:00

Renovate Hotel Playa Linda Restaurant for internet cafe, workshop and bead store.

We will do solar and eco-construction demonstrations on the roof.
Renovar Hotel Playa Linda restaurante para café-internet, taller y tienda de mostacilla.

Vamos a hacer demostraciones de energía solar y la eco-construcción en el techo.

BEFORE / ANTES: Hotel Playa Linda Restaurant


AFTER / DESPUES (Amilcar)

http://oyot.org/real-estate-au/fabulous-spanish-colonial-style/

DIY Solar Water Heater Innovation for 70$

2011-10-18T15:04:00.000-06:00

By debeshbhattarai

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LEJmLyuBAI

Uploaded by debeshbhattarai on Jan 26, 2011

http://challenge.ecomagination.com/home/Passive-Solar-heater-Innovation-DIY

This is a ZERO ENERGY HEATER, POWERING YOUR HOME with water heating solution, an ideal DIY appliance as ZERO ENERGY GREEN SOLAR HEATER and HOT WATER SOLUTION as DIY item for many Home Owners with limited technical skills. Basic material are easily available Plastic Barrel and Black Pipe. This Solar Heater in conjunction with home heating HDPE black pipe assembly is appropriately economical for many regions of the world. A True innovation on the rural technology for tourism, room heating and many more one can imagine. ... end-less possibilities for CARBON NEUTRAL APPLIANCE, CARBON CREDIT ENHANCEMENT for net ZERO BUILDING DESIGN solutions.

Cheapest and Easiest Solar joining two ends of pipe on to the plastic Barrel, and presto!
A True innovation on the rural technology, One must have product for green revolution!
An entry in GE Ecomagination Challenge you may want to support this idea and spread the skill far and wide.

Solar 'Post-it' Panels Make Debut

2011-10-17T13:56:00.001-06:00

Discovery News > Tech News > Solar 'Post-it' Panels Make Debut

Solar 'Post-it' Panels Make Debut

The company that brought us Post-it Notes wants to do something similar for solar power. At the CEATEC conference in Japan, 3M unveiled its latest: a solar panel that's a translucent piece of sticky film.

DNEWS VIDEO: GREEN ENERGY

As an added bonus, the film also blocks a good percentage -- the company claims 90 percent -- of the incoming infrared light. That means it can cool a house that has a lot of window space, or an apartment whose windows don't open, reducing both the dreaded summertime greenhouse effect and the load on the air conditioner. Then there's the ease of installation. All you have to do is stick the film onto the window.

...more : http://news.discovery.com/tech/3m-post-it-solar-111014.html#mkcpgn=fbnws1

How to Build a Solar Bottle Bulb 2.0 ( Updated English Version)

2011-10-13T13:11:00.004-06:00

Mute sound (video has loud, distracting music) but good information:

Thanks to Marco Bieman from Bieman Production Haus Inc. Video Directing and Editing

63-02-5029766 & Joy Aquino for Visual Directing. Amazing WORK !

1) Always scratch the sides of the bottle to create better grip to the sealant. The top part where the bottle meets the metal is the leak point in the build so use industrial strength sealant (epoxy or DOW Corning 791) on the top and bottom if possible.

2) Always put a protective cover over the bottle cap as the suns rays tend to make the original bottle cap brittle and a crack in the bottle cap will allow the water in the bottle to leak during evaporation.

3) Always RIVET the metal sheet holder on to the roof.

4) DON't USE THIN METAL ROOFING SHEETS. there will be no bite on the plastic bottle and the different expansion rates will cause leaks later on. Go for thicker roof sheet.

more: http://youtu.be/rYTIYUUK70I

Comments:

@CommentsSurvey vulcaseal is really sticky and is rubbery. when exposed to the sun it becomes hard like a rock. caulk or silicone sealant is good for preventing leaks but a stronger adhesive is recommended so the bottle wont slide off the flange.
mnmc10 1 day ago
@CommentsSurvey its a pvc endcap. any endcap fitting for pipes will do.

20-gallon Solar Heated Hot Water Heater and Shower

2011-10-09T18:59:00.006-06:00

20-gallon Solar Heated Hot Water Heater and Shower
Free Building Plans

Build this solar heated hot water shower for as little as $25 (if you have some spare lumber and items laying around) and save on hot water heat costs! This 20 gallon capacity shower provides enough water for a family of 4-6 to take daily showers and the design is simple. The plastic cover over the top enhances the solar heating, making this a shower that can possibly be used 6 months out of the year in even the colder northern climates. You only need the south side of a garage, house, or shed to mount the frame. The shower fills with an ordinary garden hose.

This shower works great! Tell your friends about this idea - we need to do whatever we can in these times of +4$/gallon oil and gas prices!

Check Out the NEW IMPROVED version of this solar shower! Also see my Blog Post About The $5 Solar Garden Hose Shower I Built! Also, see how I have added insulation to make this a 3 season shower!

Materials List:

Old garden hose
Hose mender, male end mender, and on/off as shown in Step 1
(2) 32" 2x4's, (2) 35" 2x4's, (2) 33" 2x4's, (1) 39" 2x6, 39" 2x2 for box and frame shown in Steps 2 and-3
39" by 35" piece of 1/2" plywood or (2) pieces 39" by 17 1/2"
(1) 39" 2x6 or 2x4 and 30-39" 2x2 for frame support shown in Step 4 and 5
Small scraps of plywood for diagonal stops (Step 2) and to hold down plastic (Step 10)
35" long 3/4" x 1.5" board, 35" 2x2, 35" 2x4 ripped to 2 1/4" for Step 6
4" to5 3/4" by 39" scrap of plywood or siding for Step 6
5 ft by 5 ft square of relatively clear plastic
Ordinary black 55 gallon contractors garbage bag
8x10 tarp for privacy curtain
Shower head - hose sprinkler head or watering can spout works well
2", 3", and 3 1/2" hex-head deck screws

See Steps 1-6: http://www.savehouseholdenergy.com/solarshower.html

See Steps 7-11: http://www.savehouseholdenergy.com/solarshower-steps7thru11.html

New Improved 20-gallon Solar Shower! - Free Building Plans:

http://www.savehouseholdenergy.com/solarshower-new.html

This new improved solar shower features an exterior of recycled slab wood (scraps from a lumber mill that are normally discarded), a glass top on a weather stripped frame that flips open and seals in heat much better, a door that opens and closes securely, and a light that illuminates the shower after dark. So now I can take a shower in the morning and the water is still luke warm (hot summer weather). Also, now no tools are needed to replace the bags just flip open and secure the top with the rope pulley system. All-in-all these were some nice changes that I think will greatly increase the use-ability. The steps I used to build this shower are given below. Watch the video - Click Here!

more: http://www.savehouseholdenergy.com/solarshower-new.html

IDE's Treadle Pump & Drip Irrigation

2011-10-09T11:40:00.006-06:00

IDE's Original Sensation: Treadle Pump

The treadle pump is a human-powered irrigation device that sits on top of a well. Pumping is activated by stepping up and down on treadles which drive pistons, creating cylinder suction that draws groundwater to the surface. Treadle pumps free farmers from dependence on rain-fed irrigation, provide capacity to raise crops in two growing seasons per year, and help farmers maximize return on their small plots of land. Pump prices, including installation, range from US$20 – $100 based on country of purchase and type of pump.

In Bangladesh, IDE played an instrumental role in popularizing treadle pump technology through focused value chain and social marketing interventions. Presently, 84 manufacturers now produce treadle pumps and 1.4 million treadle pumps have been sold to small plot Bangladeshi farmers since 1985. IDE's successful treadle program in Bangladesh stimulated organizations such as the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), KickStart, and Enterprise Works to begin their own treadle pump initiatives in other countries, and triggered a groundswell of interest in the design of small-scale water technologies for poor farmers.

If you're interested in supporting our technology development, please visit our Affordable Technologies Initiative page.

iDE

Creating Income and Livelihood Opportunities for the Rural Poor

Also see Drip Irrigation w/$5 hanging bag system:

http://www.ideorg.org/OurTechnologies/DripIrrigation.aspx

Entry into High Value Produce Markets

Drip irrigation provides farmers the most efficient way to grow crops in water scarce areas, but historically has been too expensive for small-plot farmers. After first approaching manufacturers of commercial drip irrigation systems, IDE developed its own design for small farmers. Our designers lowered the cost of drip systems by replacing conventional emitters with holes and micro tubes, shifting water distribution lines extending to crops, and customizing system layouts for small plots. Development of a hanging plastic water storage bag further lowered the cost to about $5 for a household garden kit covering 20 square meters (215 square feet).

In fact, any plot under .4 hectare (one acre) can benefit from these systems, but their modular design allows for expansion above that. They provide water savings of 30–70 percent, greatly reduce labor, and accurately deliver fertilizers. This makes cultivation during the dry season possible, with resulting yield increases of up to 30 percent.

IDE promotes drip irrigation throughout the developing world. Our drip systems have helped people with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe to improve their nutrition by growing vegetables, as well as coffee-growing families in Nicaragua by reducing the flowering time of plants from three years to one and a half years. In 2008, IDE sold approximately 8,500 drip systems to small farmers across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

And lots more: http://www.ideorg.org/OurStory/

IDE is a Social Enterprise

We operate in eleven countries creating income opportunities for poor rural households. By providing our customers with low cost access to water for agricultural use, and profitable links to markets, we can immediately double their income, creating economically stable communities and providing our farmers with life-altering choices. Over the last 28 years we have worked with more than 3.8 million families, increasing their aggregate income by over one billion dollars.

Facebook: Paul Polak, Founder at IDE - International Development Enterprises

https://www.facebook.com/paul.polak?sk=info

DIY Passive Solar Water Heater Construction

2011-10-07T18:00:00.000-06:00

Go to debeshbhattarai's blog where you can print out the 10 individual pages of detailed instructions. Also watch the YouTube videos for instructions on the Do It Yourself Water Heater.

DIY Solar Water Heater Innovation for 70$

http://youtu.be/2LEJmLyuBAI

DIY Passive Solar Water Heater- Vol. 2

http://youtu.be/qe7ZZKCApFk

http://debeshbhattarai.blogspot.com/2010/11/diy-passive-solar-water-heater.html

DIY Passive Solar Water Heater Construction: see all diagrams and instructions online

Very interesting, Do It Yourself (DIY) simple solar hot water heater with black pipe and water storage tank. We are going to try this in Guatemala soon. Thanks to Debeshbhattarai for sharing this. I believe it was also entered into the GE eco energy challenge.

Excerpt:

Conserve and produce GREEN ENERGY from low cost Innovative Passive Solar Water Heater as easy as joining two ends of pipe and Presto!...

For more information Please visit my Youtube link at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eACHyZ_UlI0 or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe7ZZKCApFk

SOLAR HOT WATER SHOWER DIY BLACK WATER HOSE PART 1 & 2

2011-09-28T21:47:00.001-06:00

Note: Use 1/2" or 3/4" black water hose which is flexible and much easier to work with. But the videos are funny & informative!

SOLAR HOT WATER SHOWER DIY BLACK WATER HOSE PART 1
Uploaded by GREENPOWERSCIENCE on Mar 31, 2008

Part 1 of a 2 part series showing how to install a cheap cost effective solar hot water heater. http://greenpowerscience.com/

Category: Science & Technology

http://youtu.be/UXGlB1kGO5E

SOLAR HOT WATER 2 DIY USING BLACK WATER HOSE SOLAR WATER HEATER SUN POWER

Uploaded by GREENPOWERSCIENCE on Mar 31, 2008

Part 2 of a 2 part series showing how to install a cheap cost effective solar hot water heater. http://greenpowerscience.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBAi_TVNaiM&feature=fvwp&NR=1

http://youtu.be/sBAi_TVNaiM

SOLAR HOT WATER 2 DIY USING BLACK WATER HOSE SOLAR WATER HEATER SUN POWER

2011-09-28T18:33:00.001-06:00

http://youtu.be/sBAi_TVNaiM

Build a simple solar water heater

2011-09-22T21:58:00.003-06:00

Reposted from I Will Try.org - great name!
http://www.iwilltry.org/b/projects/build-a-simple-solar-water-heater/

Introduction

I’ve seen a few different designs for solar water heaters and I wanted to share my own. It is quite an efficient design since every square inch of collector surface is in direct thermal contact with the water being heated. You can easily modify the design to any size you like. I made mine 8ft long by 22″ wide so that it can fit between the rafters in my attic. Tests showed that system output averaged about 530 Watts, heating 20 litres of water from 24 degrees C (75 degrees F) to 47 degrees C (117 degrees F) in one hour.

Aside: I’m in the middle of re-roofing my house and plan to build in a transparent section of roof in one area. Then I can experiment with different solar collector designs like this one and install and remove them easily from inside my attic instead of having to go out on my roof. It will make the plumbing easier too. The drawback is that if a collector springs a leak, it will leak into my home instead of into my gutter. See Build a solar attic for details.

Warning – Don’t drink the water

It is not my intent for this design to be used for heating drinking water. The plastics and glues used will leach into the water so it’s a bad idea to drink any water that has been inside the panel. If you want to use this design for heating drinking water you should make a heat exchanger. Run the water from the collector through a coil of copper pipe placed in a tank suitable for drinking water. This collector design is also not meant to withstand city water pressure, but if you use a heat exchanger and an appropriate tank (such as a commercial hot water tank) you can use a collector like this to heat drinking water at city water pressure.

Concept

The collector is made from Coroplast (see http://www.coroplast.com) which is a corrugated plastic sheet, commonly used for making signs. It has multiple square channels running lengthwise from end to end. When I first saw this type of sheet I immediately thought, “Wow, this would make an excellent flat panel solar collector if only there was a way to pipe water through all those little channels.” Several weeks later, a method of doing so occurred to me. If a slot of the right width is cut lengthwise in some ABS pipe (so the cross section looks like a “C”) then this pipe can be fit over the end of the corrugated plastic.

The seams can be sealed to make everything water tight. The sheet can be painted black and voila… you have a flat panel solar collector.Because the whole collector is made of plastic, it is important that the temperature doesn’t get too high or it will soften and possibly spring a leak. 80 degrees C (176 degrees F) is about the limit. Don’t think it can get that hot? Think again. In practice the maximum temperature is difficult to guarantee.

Water may stop circulating, or may drain out completely for a number of reasons and the panel will overheat. Therefore this may not be a practical design for residential installation but it is an inexpensive, easily built experimental system that produces as much or more hot water than commercially available systems. Mine cost about $60 in materials (about $4.00 per square foot) and about 6 hours of construction time.

...more (with excellent photos and instructions:

http://www.iwilltry.org/b/projects/build-a-simple-solar-water-heater/

Re: Solar Pool Heater

2011-09-22T21:46:00.001-06:00

robert brooks to me

Sept. 22, 2011

Robert, I'm here in Guatemala and looking at how to best heat the small swimming pool at my friend Georgina's small hotel. We are on a very tight budget so I need to use inexpensive or recycled materials. Can we heat the pool with "all pipe" without a pump?

I've seen a coil of black 1/2 inch pipe on a roof that makes a hot shower. We can put pipe on the flat roof of the hotel restaurant and pipe it down to the pool, or put those plastic liter bottles since that apparently doesn't need a pump.

I know nothing about plumbing or electronics, so any help is appreciated. I have your list below. You said "just use pipe," and another architect friend who is emailing me said the same thing. ???

We are measuring the pool and thanks for the vol. sq. in. formula below. I didn't know it. I'm uploading photos of the hotel on flickr. Very slow going (slow internet connection here) but they should all be uploaded by tomorrow. Some are there already.
Solar Installation for Hotel Playa Linda: http://www.flickr.com/photos/catherinetodd/sets/72157627598274307/
Thank you for your inspiration and help! Catherine Todd (contact and links below)

---

Dear Catherine,

All that need done is; the outlet of the pool filter gets diverted to a line of black pipe ( or green hose or any sort of hose)

The end of that line gets redirected into the bottom of the pool. Naturally, the more lengthy the journey through the pipes becomes the warmer the water becomes.

If the pool doesn't use a pump for it's filtering; any sort of pump that handles water will do. Additionally, solar covers work to retain the heat in the pool.

There are many good videos on you tube describing the process. I hope this helps.

Robert Brooks

Horoscope Aquarius for week of September 21, 2011

2011-09-21T00:13:00.004-06:00

Rob Brezsny's Astrology Newsletter

September 21, 2011

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I gathered together a panel of renegade astrologers to investigate your imminent future. By a unanimous vote, they designated you, out of all the signs of the zodiac, as the one "Most Likely to Exceed the Boring Limitations of Good Taste," as well as "Best Candidate to Slap the Conventional Wisdom Upside the Head." That sounds fun. I hope you make good use of the freedom that those roles entail. By the way, the general consensus also suggested that you are primed to find valuable stuff in out-of-the-way borderlands or in off-limits haunts where no one else even wants to look.

FreeWillAstrology.com

A Liter of Light Information - updated instructions with pictures

2011-09-20T23:19:00.005-06:00

A Liter of Light - Director's Cut: http://youtu.be/TYEIT6lLb8A

A Liter of Light Information
Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 8:15 PM
To: Catherine Todd

Hello Ms.Catherine!

I'm glad to tell you that the technology is currently being developed to store the energy the bottle gets in the morning and use it at night. We will keep in touch. We're doing our best to move fast, combine, and align everything so we can provide a more comprehensive information bank for everyone. Thank you for helping us make the world a better, sustainable, place!

Kristel Gonzales
Documentation and Internal Affairs
A Liter of Light Team

From: Catherine Todd
Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 11:08 PM
To: A Liter of Light Information

Kristel Gonzales
Documentation and Internal Affairs
A Liter of Light Team
www.aliteroflight.org

A Liter of Light ► http://t.co/GpEbARF
To donate or volunteer visit ► www.isanglitrongliwanag.org

A Liter of Light - Director's Cut: http://youtu.be/TYEIT6lLb8A
Video with English Instructions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMrzUztT4UE

Dear Kristel,

You wrote: "I'm glad to tell you that the technology is currently being developed to store the energy the bottle gets in the morning and use it at night."

Can't wait to see what you come up with! The whole world is seeing your videos and how you are implementing the Solar Bottle Bulb. Please keep me on your information list. We are working in Guatemala right now with the solar bottle bulb idea and I can't wait to try it. It's people like you that are making the world a better place. I have listed your new videos, including "director's cut" above. I also see you have a way to donate on your main webpage. I hope you put a PayPal button on your Facebook page.

I have received many excellent ideas from people starting with your solar bottle bulb technique, and I am hope they send you their ideas. We will certainly send you whatever techniques my architect and engineer come up with any improvements we are able to make. We are also concerned with safety and not damaging property with this installation. We are going to set up some test models with different roofing materials and different caulks, high pressure water hoses, and film the results. I will send you the results. We will also translate the final instructions into Spanish and English with diagrams for those people who do not have computer access to see the videos. I will send them to you when they are finished.

It's a wonderful thing you and everyone who worked on this idea is doing. This will change the world for the better. Once the energy can be stored for use at night, everyone will be able to have light and not pay an electricity bill. Many people here in Guatemala cannot afford electricity or live very far away off-grid so this will change everything for them. Can't wait to see what you come up with!

Where is your PayPal donation button? I and many others want to donate!

Catherine Todd
Guatemala and USA
cell Guatemala (502) 4198.2214 new

Solar Powered Light Bulb

2011-09-19T18:18:00.000-06:00

http://blog.sustainablog.org/solar-powered-light-bulb/

Solar Bottle Bulb (Part II)

2011-09-19T18:06:00.001-06:00

Solar Heating and Lighting For Your Garage Shop/Playroom/Sunspace

2011-09-16T12:11:00.006-06:00

Reposted by Build It Solar.com, The Renewable Energy Site for Do-It-Your-Selfers

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarGarageCollector/garcol.htm

http://www.builditsolar.com

An article describing this inexpensive and very efficient solar heater for a shop, studio, or playroom. This project provides an great combination of solar heating and daylighting -- it makes for a space that is a delight to be in. My all-time favorite solar project.

The article explains why this $4 per sqft collector can do as well as well or better than commercial collectors costing $30 per sqft, and provides full construction details. It also describes a new version that can be built with only basic tools.
Go to website to download these articles:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarGarageCollector/garcol.htm

Download the Home Power article (pdf)
Thanks to Home Power for making this available!
Visit the Home Power website

Additional downloads for this project
Additional Details (pdf)
(not as well written or illustrated as the HP article, but has a couple ideas not covered in the HP article)

How does it do at -20F?
(describes how the heater does in very cold but clear weather)

---

Workshop or Studio Sunspace

This is an inexpensive and simple project to convert a garage that has a south facing overhead garage door into a solar heated and lighted workshop, studio, playroom or sunspace/greenhouse.

It’s hard to overstate how much more pleasant this makes the shop to work in -- on sunny days its toasty warm and very well lighted. I think it would also work well as a studio, kid’s playroom, a place to grow a few plants, or maybe just a place to sit and read the newspaper.

I really like the way the existing garage door is used as movable insulation to reduce night heat loss. The combination of the new outer glazed doors, the existing overhead garage door, and the simple shade cloth sliding screen make a simple but very effective way to control the shop environment, harvest some free solar heat, and reduce green house gas emissions.

These simple collector doors at $4 per square foot do as good a job of solar heating as commercial solar collectors costing $30 per square foot – and, they give you the added bonus of good lighting and a view!

Of all the solar projects I've completed, this one has been the most satisfying in its simplicity and usefulness.

---

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarGarageCollector/Sliders.htm

An Alternative to Building Your Own Doors

Instead of making the glazed doors yourself, this suggestion makes use of a commercial door system for the outside glazed doors. These door systems are used in Florida and like climates to allow a room or sunspace to have a glazed wall, or to stow the glazing panels off to the side to fully open the area to the outside. The idea is to use one of these door systems instead building your own outside doors. This looks like it would work fine to me, and looks like it would result in a very attractive and functional system. Several types of sliding and folding door arrangements are made (more....

http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarGarageCollector/Sliders.htm

This suggestion came from Ed via Home Power -- thanks!

Here are some excerpts from Ed's email, and some pictures he provided:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarGarageCollector/Sliders.htm

A CAD rendering of one of the possible door arrangements.
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/SpaceHeating/SolarGarageCollector/Sliders.htm

More: http://www.nanawallsystems.com

Building a Passive House & LED Lights

2011-09-15T22:06:00.001-06:00

http://minuszeroeco.blogspot.com/

Building a house

An architectural
ecological
escapade
Building a Passive House

Plastic soda bottles become light source

2011-09-15T01:07:00.008-06:00

Another detailed video making Solar Bottle Bulbs:

http://youtu.be/kHTD_RX3J2I

YouTube comment: "I've seen other versions of this, but this one explains the refractive effect and why that makes a difference." - TheAuntieBa

"Isang Litrong Liwanag" campaign headed by philanthropist Illiac Diaz turns plastic soda bottles into nifty light bulbs in small homes, which absorbs sunlight and spreads it out inside a house.

This video was produced exclusively for Yahoo! Southeast Asia by loQal.ph

The water and sunlight uses LIGHT REFRACTION to produce more light than a simple hole in the roof would.

---

And yet another video on Solar Bottle Bulbs. This one explaining refraction (in Philipino?): News to Go - Solar bulbs light up Laguna community 3/11/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ISLKlalwX4

"In "Serbisyo on the Go," Kara David visits a community in Laguna where residents are having a hard time paying their electricity bills. To keep power costs down, social entrepreneur Illac Diaz and the Rotary club taught residents how to make "solar light bulbs" using plastic soda bottles, water, and bleach."

------

Found from an excellent list on BuildItSolar.com: http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Lighting/lighting.htm#BottleLight

Manual on the Construction and Installation of Solar Water Heater Composed of disposable packaging

2011-09-15T00:44:00.008-06:00

In Portuguese (Brazil?):

Solar Hot Water System by José Alcino Alano, story at: http://vilamulher.terra.com.br/aquecedor-solar-caseiro-13-1-49-41.html

Excerpt: "O melhor da ideia do casal é que qualquer um pode construir seu próprio aquecedor. Basta seguir as instruções do “Manual Sobre a Construção e Instalação do Aquecedor Solar Composto de Embalagens Descartáveis”, disponível na Internet com um passo-a-passo para a produção e instalação."

"The best of the couple's idea is that anyone can build your own heater. Just follow the instructions "Manual on the Construction and Installation of Solar Water Heater Composed of disposable packaging," available on the Internet with a step-by-step for the production and installation. " ...more

Manual on the Construction and Installation of Solar Water Heater Composed of disposable packaging - BuildItSolar / Manual Sobre a Construção e Instalação do Aquecedor Solar Composto de Embalagens Descartáveis

Une Autro: http://vilamulher.terra.com.br/aquecedor-solar-caseiro-13-1-49-41.html

Mas Information in Spanish: http://www.sociedadedosol.org.br/

Aquecedor Solar Composto de Embalagens Descartáveis - UOL
josealcinoalano.vilabol.uol.com.br/manual.htm
Manual detalhado e ilustrado para se construir um aquecedor de água solar, usando garrafas pet e embalagens descartáveis tetra pack.

Página em Manutenção

CLIQUE AQUI para baixar a versão completa em PDF (adxunto)

http://josealcinoalano.vilabol.uol.com.br/manual.htm

2 attachments — Download all attachments
Screen shot 2011-09-15 at 2.35.20 AM.png Screen shot 2011-09-15 at 2.35.20 AM.png
Manual Sobre a Construção e Instalação do Aquecedor Solar Composto de Embalagens Descartáveis.pdf

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Rough google translation in English, download pdf:

Construction and Installation of Water Heater Made of - BuildItSolar
www.builditsolar.com/.../...
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat
Feb 21, 2009 – Manual on the Construction and Installation. Solar Heater Made of disposable packaging. (Turn Trash Hot Water). Prepared by: José Alcino ...
http://www.sociedadedosol.org.br/

http://www.builditsolar.com/

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Found via this person on Facebook: THANK YOU!

Takeshi Nozawa, https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=732655668

Takeshi wrote: "Hola Catherine. I found an article of him. FYI... http://www.facebook.com/l/0AQCTObDc/vilamulher.terra.com.br/aquecedor-solar-caseiro-13-1-49-41.html

http://vilamulher.terra.com.br/aquecedor-solar-caseiro-13-1-49-41.html

http://vilamulher.terra.com.br/aquecedor-solar-caseiro-13-1-49-41.html
Aquecedor solar caseiro - Vila Compras
vilamulher.terra.com.br
A palavra de ordem é sustentabilidade No entanto preservar não é suficiente É preciso substituir e melhorar hábitos e atitudes E tudo pode começar dentro de casa Artesanalmente e a partir de material reciclado por exemplo é possível construir um aque

http://josealcinoalano.vilabol.uol.com.br/manual.htm

http://www.builditsolar.com/:

Lots of solar bottle bulbs and other interesting solar ideas:
http://www.builditsolar.com/Projects/Lighting/lighting.htm#BottleLight

4 videos for Solar Bottle Bulb & Solar Hot Water Heater

2011-09-14T13:15:00.003-06:00

Luz solar y calentador solar de agua caliente / Solar Light & Solar Hot Water Heater
2 messages
Catherine Todd Wed, Sep 14, 2011 at 3:10 PM
To: Eddy Amilcar
See these videos for a solar light and solar hot water heater I want to talk about. I have some money to do this. I would like to try at the Hotel Playa Linda. CT

= Ver estos videos de una luz solar y calentador solar de agua caliente que quiero hablar. Tengo algo de dinero para hacer esto. Me gustaría probar en el Hotel Playa Linda. CT

Brasil: Utilice una botella de 2 litros como un corte de luz de 50 vatios bombilla Bombilla:
http://youtu.be/_zMAWztZ6TI

Bombilla Botella Solar: La luz de la vida .. mp4: http://youtu.be/9FiplFylMOc

Bombilla Botella Solar - Cómo construir (Tagalog): http://youtu.be/laANmQlrJHo

Calentador solar de agua caliente: http://youtu.be/ehDgXrpRlTU

Traducción::

Brazil: Use a 2-Liter Bottle as a 50 Watt Light Bulb lightbulb hack: http://youtu.be/9FiplFylMOc

Solar Bottle Bulb: The light of life..mp4: http://youtu.be/9FiplFylMOc

Solar Bottle Bulb - How to Build ( Tagalog): http://youtu.be/laANmQlrJHo

Solar Hot Water Heater: http://youtu.be/ehDgXrpRlTU

How to Make a PVC Solar Hot Water Heater

2011-09-13T01:54:00.002-06:00

How to Make a PVC Solar Hot Water Heater

Read more: How to Make a PVC Solar Hot Water Heater | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5261329_make-solar-hot-water-heater.html#ixzz1XoiQqlHn

Building a PVC pipe solar hot water heater can reduce or eliminate the need to use "grid" power to heat water for the home. By using PVC pipe encased in a heat-building box, then installing this box in a location that receives ample sunlight, the water is heated and pumped into the home using thermal energy. Installing several of these heat boxes will provide an abundance of hot water, and can be built and installed by an average backyard engineer in about three hours.

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/how_5261329_make-solar-hot-water-heater.html

Building Science.com

2011-09-12T23:37:00.005-06:00

From Architect Mark Comerford markjcomerford@yahoo.com:

By the way, if you are interested in building technology issues, one of the best sites I know of, sponsored by one of the worlds leading building scientists, Lsturbek, is www.buildingscience.com

Bolivia Set to Pass Historic 'Law of Mother Earth' Which Will Grant Nature Equal Rights to Humans

2011-09-12T20:54:00.006-06:00

Evo Morales speaks at the UN Evo Morales speaks at the UN
(photo: Wikimedia Commons)

Monday, 18 April 2011 09:43, PV Pulse.com
Bolivia Set to Pass Historic 'Law of Mother Earth' Which Will Grant Nature Equal Rights to Humans
Written by Keph Senett

With the cooperation of politicians and grassroots organizations, Bolivia is set to pass the Law of Mother Earth which will grant nature the same rights and protections as humans. The piece of legislation, called la Ley de Derechos de la Madre Tierra, is intended to encourage a radical shift in conservation attitudes and actions, to enforce new control measures on industry, and to reduce environmental destruction.

The law redefines natural resources as blessings and confers the same rights to nature as to human beings, including: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. Perhaps the most controversial point is the right "to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities".

...more

Solar Water Heater from Brazil "Soda bottle solar water heater" -Panasonic ecoideasnet

2011-09-12T20:44:00.000-06:00

This is the solar hot water heater I want to build when I get back to Guatemala. Hotel Playa Linda first.

http://youtu.be/ehDgXrpRlTU

From YouTube: For more eco ideas follow us on: http://www.facebook.com/ecoideasnet

This self-built solar water heater is made of plastic bottles, black painted milk cartons and PVC pipes. It is popular in southern Brazil.

The water is heated passively by solar energy. As the hot water rises, it is naturally replaced by cold water, so no pump is needed.

Construction reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-Y5AwFuTGU

Brazil Factory Recycles Empty Toothpaste Tubes into Useful Products

2011-09-12T14:52:00.000-06:00

http://youtu.be/AGLJ3Xoo_L8

Brazil Factory Recycles Empty Toothpaste Tubes into Useful Products

For more news and videos visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com
Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision
Add us on Facebook ☛ http://facebook.com/NTDTelevision

A small factory in Brazil's northeast is squeezing new life out of spent toothpaste tubes by turning them into furniture and roof tiles. One of the beneficiaries is a local school where the children are learning that regular brushing is not only good for the teeth, but can also help the environment.

Children attending the Instituto Negromonte elementary school in Olinda, Northeastern Brazil, are sitting on what were once toothpaste tubes.

Workers in a small factory on the outskirts of town are turning otherwise useless packaging into chairs, desks, roof tiles and other furniture and construction materials.

This translates to less waste being thrown away at dumps.

The tubes made of plastic and aluminum are crushed and mixed with resins at high temperatures to create light and very resistant boards and sheets that can be used in many ways.

Roof tiles are the factory's most popular products. Each one is made from about a thousand small tubes.

[Sebastiao Rufina Barbosa, Factory Owner]:
"There is an interesting ecological feature. If I used wood, I would be taking it from forests and would not replace it. Here I am using what would be considered garbage. The forest is thanking me and, in the same time, we are using an environment friendly material."

The small plant lies in the outskirts of the historic city of Olinda, near the Pernambuco state capital of Recife. Every month, it churns out around 40,000 roof tiles.

[Agnaldo da Costa, Salesman]:
"It's a very good material, very resistant and helps isolate heat. During rainy seasons, other materials let too much noise in while this one doesn't."

The elementary school is also a big fan of the recycled material. Barbosa says school desks made of recycled tubes are easier to clean and last longer than the regular ones made of wood.

[Sebastiao Rufina Barbosa, Factory Owner]:
"I came up with the idea of making chairs because children, for example, wet their pants, spill sodas and schools find it hard to clean them. With this material, they can clean the chairs daily. It is a very resistant material that does not absorb any water. In comparison with plastic laminate and wood, its durability is almost infinite."

School director Maria de Lourdes Negro Monte plans to buy more school desks for all classrooms. She says education officials across the country should follow her example.

[Maria de Lourdes Negro Monte, School Director]
"We think it is very interesting and we need all authorities to see the way we are reusing things that would be thrown away, disposed. This is what we need to do to contribute to save the environment."

Other types of furniture and car bodies are in the owner's future plans.

THE CHEAPEST & EASIEST POP CAN HEATER EVER!! by richallenmusic

2011-09-12T01:43:00.001-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsF9RvVxFc4&feature=related

THE CHEAPEST & EASIEST POP CAN HEATER EVER!! by richallenmusic

HEATER I MADE TO TEST OUT. WITHOUT NO CUTTING CANS OR GLUEING CANS NO DRILLING JUST CANS SITTING IN BOX TEMP GOT UP TO 170 DEGREES IN ABOUT 45 MINS

How to Build a Solar Bottle Bulb 2.0 ( Updated English Version)

2011-09-11T23:05:00.006-06:00

UPDATED, DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS. At long last! I hope this is the latest version... many versions on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/rYTIYUUK70I

Uploaded by MrIllacdiaz on Sep 3, 2011 [Mr Illac Diaz]

Thanks to Marco Bieman from Bieman Production Haus Inc. Video Directing and Editing
63-02-5029766 &
Joy Aquino for Visual Directing. Amazing WORK !

1) Always scratch the sides of the bottle to create better grip to the sealant. The top part where the bottle meets the metal is the leak point in the build so use industrial strength sealant (epoxy or DOW Corning 791) on the top and bottom if possible.

2) Always put a protective cover over the bottle cap as the suns rays tend to make the original bottle cap brittle and a crack in the bottle cap will allow the water in the bottle to leak during evaporation.

3) Always RIVET the metal sheet holder on to the roof.

4) DON't USE THIN METAL ROOFING SHEETS. there will be no bite on the plastic bottle and the different expansion rates will cause leaks later on. Go for thicker roof sheet.
Category:

Nonprofits & Activism
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Bulb

Talapia Fish - YouTube
► 0:11► 0:11	www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5tNYKJyEUQ19 Feb. 2011 Tilapiines are also among the easiest and most profitable fish to farm. This is due to their omnivorous diet ...

Eco-Architecture & Ecological Living

Solar bottle lights in a Ugandan Kitchen

Hotel Royal Mansour Mahdia (TUNISIE)

Plan of Notre Dame de Paris

Livraria Lello ~ Library / Bookstore in Porto-Portugal

Archways and Ceilings ~ Groin Vault / Cross Vault

How to build a Dome Ceiling - in 8 minutes and 20 seconds

A Customer Review With Archways & Ceilings Made Easy

Aluminum Puzzle Lamp

DESIGNER CEILING LAMP SHADE, Puzzle Lamps, Paper lamps

Here is a simplistic illustration showing the concept of construction using just the one pattern interlocking pattern piece (a discussion of the lamp shade geometry is here).

(Note: I want to make the star shape, but haven't found instructions yet for this one!)

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From IQ LIGHT.com:

Source: IQ Light.com: http://www.iqlight.com/iqsorts.htm

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Designer Lamps Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBjWzTGHHoo

How to make a Ball with 30 elements:

Where to buy: Here's one place: http://puzzlelamp.blogspot.com/, puzzlelamp (at) gmail.com

I want to buy sheets. I know it's available somewhere in Guatemala City, but I'm not sure where. USA?

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Source: IQ Designer Lamp Shades on Facebook, under "Profile Pictures"

100sft DIY Passive Solar Innovation for Home Heating

Cut glass bottles the EASY way

Use a glass cutter taped down in a cake pan:

More at: http://www.diypics.com/how-to-cut-glass-bottles/

and: http://www.instructables.com/

Gaviotas Engineering

See Saw Pump ~ children pump water

JOY PUMP ……See Saw Pump

How to build a Massachusetts garage out of tires

Friends of Gaviotas: Energy: not created, not destroyed

Gaviotas ~ Sustainable Living Community

LEED Tutorial Sample

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The Art of Making Biomass Briquettes

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How to make Charcoal Briquettes from Agricultural Residues

Biomass Charcoal Briquetting

Biomass Charcoal Briquetting

13-Year-Old Makes Solar Power Breakthrough by Harnessing the Fibonacci Sequence

Japanese Sit Tub & Magnesium

Timber Framed Arches and Corbels

How to Light Up Your House for $65 with DIY Solar Energy

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Solar Powered Kart Made in the Philippines

Category:

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Grow & Cook Tilapia / Talapia Fish

1 MILLION Pounds Organic Food On 3 Acres

From a Group of Farmers, Educators and Innovators:

How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres.

PART 2 – How 1 MILLION Pounds Of Organic Food Can Be Produced On 3 Acres

Flat pack furniture / Muebles del paquete plano

Mobile Edible Wall

MEWU EDU Video

Vertical Wall Gardening: "Grow up" in a small garden

Step 1 Materials needed

$2000 Available for Green Living Wall Garden_MEWU (Mobile Edible Wall)

George Irwin, CEO

Whole Kids Foundation

WindowFarms.org ~ Garden in your window year-round

Britta Riley: A garden in my apartment

English to Spanish translation

Wired meets the woman behind Sugru

Related features

How to 'hack things better'

YouTube: meet sugru

Hotel Playa Linda Projecto

DIY Solar Water Heater Innovation for 70$

Solar 'Post-it' Panels Make Debut

Solar 'Post-it' Panels Make Debut

How to Build a Solar Bottle Bulb 2.0 ( Updated English Version)

20-gallon Solar Heated Hot Water Heater and Shower

New Improved 20-gallon Solar Shower! - Free Building Plans:

IDE's Treadle Pump & Drip Irrigation