Thermal Flashlight Reveals Substandard Apartment Insulation
Cheap DIY thermal flashlight provides evidence to landlords and housing authorities about poor insulation in apartment units.
housing
EDAR makes shelter
Marketplace introduced me to the idea of the convertible shopping cart the other morning. The problem is that people need a place to live, and that a decent shelter can be provided by working off the form of the shopping cart. By providing a personal place for people, homeless people can begin to regain their […]
Build a house with a computer, a ShopBot, and a rubber mallet
Imagine pulling up to an empty lot with a CNC-controlled ShopBot router, a rubber mallet, and a pile of 600 sheets of plywood. Add in some unskilled labor and a few days, and you could end up with a livable, permanent structure. Ok, you will need to add electricity, plumbing, and lighting, but thanks to […]
Conhouse: container-ish housing
(Image via Conhouse) Here’s an interesting design for container-like prefab housing. I’m not sure why the designers have chosen to go with a custom container-like module vs. shipping containers (of which the west has a huge surplus), but this is still a neat, actually-commercially-available, somewhat-more-sustainable housing solution.
Grow a treehouse
Not quite production-ready, this is probably the most sustainable DIY housing I can imagine: Here’s an explanation with an architect behind the concept: Any ideas/instructions for slightly-smaller-scale growable structures? (Via Chelsea Green)
More shackitecture and call for “Urban Homesteading Act”
Last week, Mister Jalopy started out to write another one of is fine entries on D+R about “shackitecture” and ended up penning a proposal for an “Urban Homesteading Act,” a new generation of homesteading laws. As discussed on D+R previously, the local zoning and building departments represent an impregnable, byzantine bureaucracy so difficult to navigate […]
Housing in tents times
Treehugger has an excellent overview of 30 non-standard ways to put a roof over your head in ‘tents times.’ Above is one of my favorite: a tent disguised as a car. Don’t worry: the article is as good as the pun is bad:)
