'Alternative' Property Resources

I was talking to another forum member yesterday about the Tiny House movement and other alternative construction methods and designs so I thought I would start a thread to post a few links to resources.

Ecofriendly homes
The first one is Ecohome Tours Home - ECOhomes Tour
Each year a tour is organised by Ecodesign Architects ECOdesign Architects of environmentally conscious designed houses in the Blue Mountains in NSW.

The Tiny House Movement
Here is a link too an article and a time lapse video of a Tiny House being constructed Tiny House gives Queensland families new take on Australian dream

The upcyclist
http://www.theupcyclist.com.au/tiny-houses/

Fred's Tiny Houses
http://www.fredstinyhouses.com.au/


Straw Bale Houses
These are starting to get popular in Australia.

Viva Homes http://vivahomes.com.au/

Huff n Puff Strawbale constructions http://glassford.com.au/main/

Strawtec http://strawtec.com.au/

Ausbale http://ausbale.org/site/news.php

House of Bales http://houseofbales.com.au/


Earthships
The other thread I started https://propertychat.com.au/community/threads/first-earthship-house-in-australia-finished.6898/

Well the first Earthship house (that is approved) has been completed in Adelaide. See pics and more info at http://www.earthshipironbank.com.au/

See some videos:
Earthship Ironbank on TV: Totally Wild, 21 November 2015: http://tenplay.com.au/channel-eleven/totally-wild/season-23/episode-57 approx 15min 12sec into the episode.

Earthship Ironbank on TV: Today Tonight Adelaide, 21 September 2015: http://www.todaytonightadelaide.com.au/stories/sustainable-housing

Magazine articles
Earthship Ironbank in ReNew Magazine, Oct/Dec 2015 Issue 133: _From earth, cans and tyres: Earthship Ironbank -

and
http://renew.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Earthships-downunder.pdf

The builder of the house in Adelaide is Dr Martin Freney and he wrote his Ph.D. Thesis on Earthship design. The thesis can be at downloaded https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/91872.

Martin also runs Earthship Eco Homes

 

Another Tiny house article:

Big may be beautiful, but for some tiny is proving tantalising. Tiny house fever is taking hold as people look for innovative ways to bypass having a massive mortgage debt.

Stuart Dakin, 32, and his partner, Leah Stephens, 35, moved into their tiny house in the Yarra Valley in Victoria a few months ago.



Read more:The allure of the tiny house to bypass the mortgage burden

 

I could live in something like that....would be the response of my 50kilo golden retriever.

 

'IKEA on steroids': Flat-pack homes to bust Australia's housing shortage


With just a few tools and a bit of patience, would-be home-owners can now build their own abode from a flat-pack, on the cheap and off the grid.

A Sydney architect has designed the flat-pack home, describing it as IKEA on steroids, in order to combat sustainability and housing shortage issues.

The one bedroom, 13.75-square-metre home comes on the back of a trailer.

A drill, a hammer and a wrench are all that are needed to put together the 37 panels that make up the house.

Architect Alex Symes, founder of Big World Homes, says anyone can put it together.



More at 'IKEA on steroids': Flat-pack homes to bust Australia's housing shortage


Big World Homes at http://bigworldhomes.com/

 

Tiny Homes

An ex-employer of mine has branched into Tiny homes. Located on the NSW south coast, display homes now available for viewing.

 

Made of rubbish, but radically sustainable — Victoria gets its first 'Earthship'
'Earthship' rises from the ashes of Black Saturday