eco-home: shipping container

The ProtoHaus  is a 125 square feet home built upon a trailer primarily from recycled and reclaimed materials.

Source: http://www.protohaus.moonfruit.com via reddit: Best Bachelor Apartment Ever.

Converted horse boxes make motorhomes a viable option for the eco-conscious. This example from House-Box removes two of the biggest eco barriers to motorhomes.

1. Motorhome are traditionally made from uneconomical and ecologically damaging fibreglass. The House-Box example instead reuses an old 1979 horse box. Converting and recycling materials eliminates the need to use new non-environmentally sound building products.

2. This example includes modern day luxuries and conveniences, so that living out of a vehicle doesn’t require a high level of sacrifice. The home has two 80 watt PV solar power cells on the roof, a comprehensive rainwater harvesting system, LED lighting and a compost collection toilet. The technology allows them home to operate sustainably off-grid. Of luxuries, the home is equipped with hot water, a DJ sound system and a Range Master cooker. 

Source: The Ecologist - House boxes: the equine homes trend coming to a street near you

In the acceptance email to a part-time MSc Architecture, Advanced Environmental & Energy Studies programme, the Senior Lecturer included the below advice on preparing for the programme. This blog is my attempt at following the advice.

As general preparation for the MSc, it would be useful to start reading articles on architecture, the environment and energy, preferably from academic sources, but also publications like New Scientist, Green Building Magazine or The Ecologist.

I suggest that when you find a new article, you don’t just read it but: 

1.     Read and then try to summarise in 100 words; and

2.     Read with these questions in mind:

‘Is the evidence offered here convincing for the case they are making?’

‘Are the arguments used, the logic of what follows from what, satisfactory?’

‘In what ways, if any, is this material important? What does it mean for the wider subject?’