Green building technology can focus on a wide range of goals and objectives that a client has in mind. Within a relocalization framework, green architecture and building design should embrace a holistic and comprehensive program to:

• Employ site design with minimal ecological impact
• Employ site and building design that takes advantage of natural assets (e.g. southern exposures)
• Utilize sustainably harvested natural resources for construction
• Utilize recycled or salvaged materials where feasible
• Utilize non-toxic building materials
• Use alternative sources of energy
• Use energy conservation methodologies
• Use native landscapes
• Build what you need and no more (e.g. no conservatories

Some communities have maintained and protected their local agricultural base and are well-situated for the transition to a more local food economy. Other communities have surrendured their local farmland to real estate developers for shopping malls, housing developments, and parking lots. These communities will have a more difficult time re-establishing local agriculture. The links below provide information on developing a local food economy.

Links

Small House Style - Small House Style is a web magazine dedicated to everything small house. Think bungalows, cottages, guest houses, cabins, sustainable architecture, green building, straw bale, prefab, modern, apartments, modular, simple, solar, wind and tiny - inside and outside. We love beautiful, modern and sustainable small buildings.

Tumbleweed Tiny Houses - Sebastopol, CA based company that designs and builds microhousing.

Greenbuilders Directory - Interesting resource for locating gree builders but without any organizational information or mission statement.

Greenhomebuilding.com - A resource for a wide range of information about sustainable architecture and natural building. .

U.S. Green Building Council - A 501(c)(3) non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to everyone within a generation.

Cob Cottage Company - Company that conducts hands-on research on natural building methods and materials, testing their own buildings by living in them. Through practical trainings in natural construction, they help empower ordinary people to build their own houses at moderate cost. And by mail and phone, and through publications and tours, they supply information, support and inspiration for people to make healthy choices about buildings.

Green Builder - A source for sustainable building information.

Center for Neighborhood Technology - A leader in promoting urban sustainability—the more effective use of existing resources and community assets to improve the health of natural systems and the wealth of people, today and in the future. CNT is a creative think-and-do tank that combines rigorous research with effective solutions.

Sustainable ABC - A site that explores the relationship between ecology and sustainability, and how we can apply these values to our daily lives. It is their goal to nourish and strengthen ecologically oriented design, construction and lifestyle choices.

Ecocity Builders - A non-profit organization dedicated to reshaping cities for the long-term health of human and natural systems.

Earthship's Biotecture - A Taos, NM based company offering sustainable designs, construction drawings & details, products, educational materials, lectures / presentations, consultation & guidance toward getting people in sustainable housing.

Development Ctr. for Appropriate Technology - A non-profit organization that draws on experience in traditional and alternative building and development, providing strategic support for the shift to sustainable building practices.

Articles and News

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