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Ecological house

Tuesday 11 July 2023, by La graine

All the versions of this article: [English] [Français]

Humans are demanding animals. Its habitat reaches a certain degree of sophistication. How to reduce its environmental impact?

Exhibition

Exhibition on the basic principles of ecological housing.

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Language file

Slideshow

File readable with Libre office.

Video format

Video format of the exhibition on the basic principles of ecological housing.

Principles

Voiceless

Source files : www.seedtohumus.org


Workshops

Workshops carried out as part of training.

Implementation of a building

After having determined on paper the location of a construction, we transfer this to the field.

Location is a mix of settings, seen in the presentation:

  • passive energy,
  • wind protection,
  • location of the sun,
  • practicality in the field,
  • taking into account the slope for phytopurification,
  • compactness…,
  • and legislation

We then use the 13 knot rope (Explained here to report the locations of the corners on the ground. There are several variations of the 13 knot rope, including that of four knots (with a distance of 60, 80 and 100 cm) , practical for more restricted measurements.

The corners are marked by a stake placed straight with a plumb line (Use a plumb line). You can place a stake at the eye for alignment with two other stakes already placed (I cannot find a link for placement at the eye).

We define the height with a water level (Exemple).

A mason’s cord connects the stakes by placing itself relatively to the level of the ground to be leveled subsequently. We place the line, for example, 50 cm exactly above the expected level. The line is horizontal because we take the first stake as a reference, then place the others with the water level.

We level the ground, loosening it first (with a shovel for big differences in level, a rake otherwise). If the site is large, construction equipment (mini excavator for example) can be useful. We add a slight overhang around the area to be flattened (so that no material adjacent to the area falls on what we will level later).

We level the ground using a 2 meter leveling ruler, it is the simplest, but we can also do it with a water level and a long straight board (I cannot find a link for checking by eye if a board is straight). Material is added or removed as needed. We remove what is bothersome (stones, roots, etc.)

We hang out with a hand ground tamper. It can also be made in several ways. (here or there)

Feedbacks, but not done during the workshop.

The ground can be watered after tamping to help settle it more. We wait for it to dry (quickly or 24 hours depending on the season, the terrain, etc.) and we tamp the ground again, ensuring the level.

Certain soils (and depending on what is being built) can be stabilized by placing stones, then pebbles, then gravel in the basement, reducing the particle size as you go. This is done, among other things, in the case of modern buildings where a drain is often placed at the very bottom.

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