Michael Garnier has helped pioneer the craft of modern treehouse construction. His Garnier limb -invented in collaboration with other enthusiasts as an open source project- holds up to 8,000 pounds and allows treehouse builders to create stronger, more durable dwellings in the trees.
When Garnier, who owns a treehouse resort with 9 elevated dwellings, decided to build his own home for himself and his wife Peggy, it had to also be nestled in the branches.
While his B&B cabins in the air are closer to 100 square feet, for his own home he decided to go big. His home is 1800 square feet on three floors. He calls it the world’s largest treehouse (not a fact, though he challenges anyone to prove him wrong).
He selected a spot in the middle of a grove of White Oak trees and used 7 trees to support the weight of his home (the largest one in the middle of the home is no longer living, but he manufactured a root system for it so it would still support the weight of a living tree).
In this video, Garnier takes us for a tour of his “trees house” and explains how a home like his does less damage to the grove of trees than if he’d built a conventional house there.
Television producer-turned-blogger-turned-ecogeek, Kirsten Dirksen is co-founder of faircompanies.com a news/blog/video site focused on environmental sustainability for people and the planet.
Austin Hay is still in high school, but he’s building his own house. It’s only 130 square feet, but it makes him a homeowner without a mortgage at just 16 years old.
Right now, it’s in his parents’ backyard, but he’s built it on wheels so he plans to take it to college and then wherever he goes after he graduates.
Moving out at 16
He’s been sleeping in his tiny home for a few months now and he’s already decided not to return to big (his parents’ home is 1800 square feet). “Living small means less bills, living big means more bills. I don’t want to pay big bills,” he explained from the tiny stoop of his new home. …read more of 16-Year-Old Builds Tiny Home to Guarantee a Mortgage-free Future here
Summer’s rising temperatures mean rising outdoor water use, especially during “peak season,” which typically occurs anywhere from July through early August, depending on your region of the country.
The average American home uses about 260 gallons of water per day; during peak season some homes can use 1,000 gallons per day. Some homes even use as much as 3,000 gallons per day, the equivalent of leaving a garden hose running for nearly 8 hours!
Check out these five simple tips from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense program to help you save money and water this summer.
Luke Clark Tyler is in a serial relationship with tiny homes. His last New York City apartment was just 96 square feet. His current place is even smaller.
Luke now lives in a 78 square foot shoebox studio. It’s too narrow to fit a bed lengthwise, but using a bit of plywood and 2x4s he built his own custom bed/couch.
At a time when many of us – due to finances, the environment or increasing urbanization- are trying to put our homes on a diet, there’s one obvious place to cut: our bedrooms.
“The bed is dead”, says Ron Barth of Resource Furniture. To Barth, the idea of occupying a room just to house a bed is archaic. So he’s selling the alternative.
As we toured his showroom, Barth- in a move that evoked James Bond- lightly tapped a bookshelf it quickly swiveled to reveal a fold down bed. At another stop, he tapped a desk and up it popped (with the computer and desk stuff still upright) to reveal yet another fully-sprung bed. …read more of Furniture Reinvented: The Bed is Dead here
Follow the latest in green design, remodeling and building techniques. Find out about the newest products and where to buy them. Swap stories and advice.
![[ X ]](http://www.ecomii.com/blogs/wp-content/themes/WP-Ecomii/images/close_btn.gif)
