How to incorporate passive solar design in your building, using thermal mass and insulation.

by | Sep 11, 2015 | Adobe, Alternative building, Alternative energy, Clay, Cob, Insulation, Living off-grid, Living Sustainably, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Passive Solar Design, Permaculture, Peter McIntosh, Solar energy, Strawbale, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements, Thermal mass, Thermal performance

Passive solar design can dramatically reduce our demands on fossil fuels and other forms of energy input, allowing our buildings to become producers and not consumers of energy and resources, supporting us in a healthier more comfortable abundant way. Passive solar...

Take charge of your power needs, Part 2: How to design your own off-grid solar energy system

by | Apr 19, 2015 | Alternative energy, Living off-grid, Living Sustainably, Peter McIntosh, Solar energy, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements

As the cost of power continues to rise and the cost of solar energy continues to drop, going off grid has never been easier. Learn how to calculate your energy requirements, as well as choose an inverter, batteries and solar panels to suit your needs. Please note in...

Take charge of your power needs, Part 1: Solar Energy as an alternative to centralized energy systems

by | Feb 26, 2015 | Alternative energy, Living off-grid, Living Sustainably, Peter McIntosh, Solar energy, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements

Being dependent on a central power source is not very powerful at all, especially as costs of centralized large-generation capacity gets ever more expensive, while the costs of solar energy continues to fall.  Recently, in South Africa the centralized electrical grid...