eco housing & permaculture

Hello, & welcome, to what will be a useful and informative resource for anyone who is interested in permaculture ,or any sustainable practices.My aim for this blog is to encourage awareness of holistic living, particularly in the suburbs.
Most people I talk to about sustainable living have a fairly limited knowledge.-Grow your veggies-,build a compost heap-, worm farm & maybe a chicken coop. Whilst food production is integral to good permaculture practices ,I would like to hi lite the lesser thought of , yet no less important areas of energy production & Eco construction methods.In particular systems & methods that can be used for extensions on existing dwellings effectively turning your house into an Eco friendly home.
I think its about time we got smart about housing.We should be combining the benefits of todays alternative energy technology ,with the good old fashion low impact construction methods of yesteryear.

Some great examples of this can be seen at the currumbin Eco village(Gold Coast Australia)Where the Eco friendly homes there use an impressive range of modern light weight materials along side old school low impact materials such as :-

• rammed earth
• straw bail
• cob
• stone
• recycled timbers ,windows,doors etc.
• yurts (the most impressive I've seen yet)
• mud brick
• farmed timbers

Another exceptional example of what is possible can be seen in the form of the entirely self sufficient earth ship.These homes use the thermal properties of the earth to keep the home at a constant temperature year round .Recycled tyres packed with ramedearth form incredibly strong load bearing walls that can be back filled (burmed) contributing to overall passive heating & cooling. Earth ships try to utilize as many recycled materials as possible or practical. like glass & plastic bottles to fill gaps between tyres before lining or rendering ,& the finish can look as good as Any commercial finish I've seen.Earth ships also have a comprehensive grey & black water recycling system that allows you grow produce in & around your home . These truly Eco friendly homes also use various methods of renewable energy systems like wind turbines, solar energy, hydro turbines and moor.

I look forward to your questions,recommendations,or stories you would like to share .