Eco Homes

Tokyo Farm Village

Proposed design for an integrated urban farming village.  Incorporating single residences, 3 floor apartment block, and combined aquaponics greenhouse/restaurant/education center.  The modular homes and apartments are designed for affordability and include farming space.  The concept it that residents can participate in the farming activities, and cooperatively produce fruits and vegetables for themselves, use in the restaurant, and for sale in local markets.

Article in Sotokoto magazine about our Minka home reform work at Lake Shojiko…

Aquaponics Greenhouse Addition

Nick Savidov was in Yokohama for a few days to discuss implementing aquaponics farms in Japan, specifically to provide fish, vegetables and jobs for the earthquake afflicted families.  Nick operates one of the world’s largest and most advanced aquaponics systems at the Alberta Crops Diversification center in Canada. He visited the demo aquaponics (a.p.) system we are building, here informing Brian Fry about the delicate ecological balance the systems require.  A greenhouse to hold the fish tank and planters is being attached to the house, and will also serve as extended living space and a passive solar heating source for the home. The old fellow with the shovel is digging up bamboo roots, so they wont push shoots up under our house every year.

details on Mick’s work … http://www.greenhousecanada.com/content/view/965/38/

Relief Eco Villages

The Earth Embassy teams are working on a set of business plans for relief villages. Combining our eco homes and organic farm developement, we are trying to amp up the schedule and funding asap now to get 2 locations going by late spring/early summer if possible.

1) Shojiko Reformed Village – to prepare 10-15 homes, with 5 small “cottage industry” shops (soap making, paper making, etc), and job training for new residents

1a) Gelato Farm – at Solar Cafe, to offer jobs and farm training for new Shojiko residents, and make a small fruit & herb farm business incubator

2) Mini Farm Home Village – mix of shipping container base / vinyl greenhouse / recycled materials. Plan is to build 30 to start, centered around a farm/education center. Hopefully locate first one in Tsunami afflicted areas, but be able to offer to other rural communities willing to develop a village to take refugee families.

3) Farm/Cottage Industry Education Team – to establish, manage and train new staff for each location. In addition to the small businesses we can set up oursleves to start, we want to send out consultants, community builders, branding experts etc to work with new residents, help identify local talent and specialties, and empower residents to re-establish their lives/careers.

Our most immediate need for funding is to get one demo Mini Farm Home built asap, so we can have one ready to show as we approach other big investors/partners to work together to get a proper village of these going. Costs will come down as we ramp up production and gather companies willing to donate materials, containers etc. For the first prototype we need about 3M jpy to get built quick, and produce some promo materials, catalog, etc.

Anyone willing to help with these projects should contact us at info@earthembassy.org
We are fielding a lot of mail, so please indicate your interest in the subject line.

Earthquake Relief Housing – Mini Farm Homes

The Earth Embassy is putting together a team to quickly build relief shelter for residents of the Sendai area and coastal regions who recently lost their towns to the Tsunami. Mini Eco-homes, built from shipping containers, can be done quickly and inexpensive. They will include rain water collection systems, passive solar heating, and greenhouses to provide residents with secure locations for now and any future scenario.
We will also provide agricultural training and small farm incubation support, to efficiently create a stable food source and small income producing fields. Ideally these temporary locations will become permanent villages and act as a hub for rebuilding more sustainable communities. Immediate need is for funding, and as we build we will also be welcoming volunteer support.

Eco-Greenhouse & Earthships Building Workshop

This summer we will build a passive solar Earth Ship greenhouse that can be used as a living space or for growing plants year round.

Earth Ships are built largely with recycled materials, most of which are easily available and free for the asking. Used, steel-belted automobile tires, packed solid with earth, become giant 400- pound bricks that create sound-proof, fire and earthquake resistant, fortress- like walls.

Once built, Earth Ships collect rain water from potable roofing material into water storage tanks that provide an abundant source of water, even in areas with minimal rainfall.

Dates: July 28 to August 1, 2010 (tentative)
Cost: ¥ 48,000 (weekend only: ¥20,000)
Location: The Earth Embassy Solar Café and Farm, on the foot of Mt. Fuji.
Contact: info@earthembassy.org

The Experience Includes:
• Classroom overview of Earth Ship building and its environmental advantages. Discussion in English with Japanese support.
• Hands on experience building an Earth Ship. We will line a 4m x 8m hole with earth-packed tires and build a roof and south-facing wall designed to function as a passive solar greenhouse.
• Farm tour and organic farming activities.
• Hike to nearby Ice caves.
• Three home-cooked meals a day prepared with locally grown organic foods.
• Lodging in the Earth Embassy Guest House.

The Solar Shower is heating up!

The solar shower at the Solar Cafe & Guest House catches rainwater from our roof, which is stored in 3 (200litre) tanks in an insulated box which heats up in the sunlight. The building itself was done with recycled floor boards from the Shojiko High Village house second floor. The boards are over 150 years old, with the original ax marks still showing where they were hand hewn long before advent of power saws, and the natural coating of creosote was layered on over years of smoke from the fireplace, and are thus the wood is naturally water resistant and will last for another 150 years. THAT’S sustainability baby!

Shojiko Kitchen – Classic Japanese meets Ikea

Reforming this kitchen was the biggest adventure of the whole house. We pushed out the south wall into the garden, and added big windows to let the light in and a deck next to the pond. The heated cherry floors were the only place in the house where we used imported wood; every where else is Japanese cedar. The real charm was when we exposed the beams above the drop ceiling that had been added. We polished them up and had to configure the new room to leave them visible. I really didn’t want to use wall-board behind the counter, so we ended up doing plaster by hand and added a piece of glass we recycled from an old pinball machine above the stove to catch the grease and be easily cleanable. We also wanted to keep a traditional country feel, but make the kitchen easy to use, so we added Ikea cabinets with all the special shelves inside for pots and cutting boards, etc, and an electric induction range with a grill built in for fish and toast. The final touch was the cedar splash board which we custom fit under the windows and gave 4 coats of varnish to make it last.

The treehouse

Upstairs at the Shojiko Minka

The upstairs at the Shojiko Lake House  ( currently for sale ), is a beautiful example of old Japanese woodworking.  We left the hand hewn beams exposed to give character and show the strength of the old home.

The house is available for viewing.  Call Jake @ 090-9346-3774.

Spring at Shojiko House

The antique Minka home we recently reformed is enjoying its first spring with all the new double pane windows letting lots of light in to warm the house. It is always a joy watching the gardens grow for the first season in a new home. The lilies and daffodils are coming up, the bamboo in the back garden looks healthy, and the yard is full of “sansai”, wild Japanese mountain vegetables that we didnt know about until they sprouted. In our small pond, the tadpoles are clamoring about the edges, hoping to make it soon to full frog-hood.

The 198m2 house is available for viewing for interested parties.
Call Jake @ 090-9346-3774 if you would like to arrange a visit.
Asking price Y34,500,000
More details here…. http://www.earthembassy.org/eden-homes/homes-for-sale/

New Mini Eco Home!

David Howenstien and the Jambo International crew have sponsored a new mini-eco house for our farm.   We got an old grain silo from a local farm and set it in the garden next to the cafe.  Koji Watanabe helped prepare the foundation and brought the big truck to drive it in and unload it.  In June, David and the Jambo team will come up for a weekend and help us put in the new floor.  We will be using twice recycled wood that was once floor boards in a barn, then used at the Tokyo International Flower Show for a country-style garden, then came to us!  Contact David if you would like to join the Jambo farming and building weekend on June 25-27.  jambodave@green.email.ne.jp

Shojiko High Village House – Sunroom & Dining

Restoring an old home is a new adventure in design everyday.  When we took out the southern kitchen wall at the Shojiko Lake House  ( currently for sale ), to add a sun room and dining area, we exposed the old beams which held up the thatched roof.  We hadn’t realized they were buried there in the ceiling, so when we saw how beautiful they looked, we redesigned the new ceiling on the spot to leave them visible.  It was an extra half day of consulting with the carpenters to figure it out, but well worth the result.

“The stairs to heaven are paved with stones our grandfather laid”

The Shojiko High Village House ( available May, 2010 ) , sits atop an ancient stone wall at the very highest point of the village.  The stones (and much of the woodwork in the house) predate power tools and were built long before the current road around the lake connected the village to the rest of the prefecture.  The stones and wood were mostly crafted right in the village, and the original thatching for the roof came on small boats from the grassy plains on lower My. Fuji from across the lake.

Handmade Staircase

This one was tricky.  The stairs in our restored Shojiko Home  (currently for sale ), had to fit in between the old beams, and not be too steep so as to allow easy access for kids or elderly.  We also wanted something with a massive feel, for solidity and to match the large structural beams of the home.   Akaike-san came up with this pine log solution.  On the side facing the entrance, the heavy stairs seems to float in the air, retaining lightness while giving strength at the same time.

visit to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West

Frank Lloyd Wright coined the term Organic Architecture nearly 100 years ago and the advances in design, materials and natural architecture he developed are seen ubiquitously in our homes and communities around the world today.  I arrived at Taliesin outside Scottsdale, Arizona after closing hours just at sunset.  Not wanting to miss a chance to see my hero’s winter encampment where he and his students built an oasis out of the desert rock, I wandered into the library and met one of the current fellows.  We got into a long discussion about developing eco-sustainable communities and I was invited in to share dinner with the fellows.  The exterior of Taliesin West flow seamlessly up from the desert floor, appearing as if they have been there for a thousand years, or perhaps are just natural features f the desert itself. The interiors are the most comfortable, human-sized rooms you could imagine, with natural light filling the space and the boundary between inside and outside delightfully blurred. 

High Village House, winter tour

Engawa 縁側

日本語   The Engawa is a hallway that runs along the south side  of traditional homes to completely open the home. It allows light into the house, air flow, and a place to sit and enjoy the view.

See house details and pricing at….   Shojiko High Village House

Oni

日本語    The Oni ridge cap on classic Japanese houses is more than ornamental.  They act like gargoyles to keep away bad spirits and protect the home.  In these restoration photos you can see the original thatched roof under the steel roof which provides 30 inches of insulation.  We also added insulation to the walls, vapor barrier, double pane windows and cedar siding on the outside.      See house details and pricing at….   Shojiko High Village House  

和様玄関 Japanese Farm Home Entrance

日本語 We retained and restored the original massive beams of the house, but added glass in all the right places to light the interior and showcase the structure.  Here the “genkan” entrance was pushed out 3 feet to accommodate a larger area for coming in out of the rain and taking off your shoes.  The kitchen sunroom faces south over the gardens.

See house details and pricing at….   Shojiko High Village House

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