Thu 2 Jul 2009
Posted by Marcin
Interview:
First Day Video:
First Day First Break:
Framework:
Preparation for the Rammed Earth Wall:
See http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Instructions#Embedding_from_Blip.tv if you erase any of the code.
Wed 22 Apr 2009
Posted by Jeremy
To our colonic relief, we added a second composting toilet, a public outhouse with privacy. Now no one needs to wonder who is going to enter the vestibule while performing defecation maneuvers. Albeit temporary, it satisfies our immediate needs. Thanks to Orin for helping construct it!
We also moved the humanure compost to south-west of the hexacubes, across from and downstream of the last stream on the west most side of the property. It’s the blue barrel in the picture below:
Fri 17 Apr 2009
Posted by Marcin
I will explain our planned infrastructure in response to questions raised two posts ago. We should start by saying that we eat our own dog food with respect to the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS)- and as we bootstrap one technology upon another – the infrastructure is built piece by piece. GVCS is like a RepRap for a new civilization.
You then look at Factor e Farm, and it is currently something like the 4th world under construction. Stateless and radical. I love every piece of it. Yet outsiders are all in for a surprise on just about everything we do here. Pioneers would do well here, but we’re not your average Joe. Where to start?
Here is the status of important issues. (more…)
Wed 15 Apr 2009
Posted by Mathew
Molly and I built a hand washing station and I put together a shower Factor e Farm. This post is an analysis of the sanitation issues rooted in geography, infrastructure, and human use following Christopher Alexander’s guidelines for design analysis.
All of Factor E Farm’s housing, work, and animal facilities have been constructed in the site’s flood plain among major runoff channels. The building zone was chosen for quick delivery and easy access by car rather than drainage. Development has continued under assumptions that the site is only temporary and that a whole new Solar Village will be built to replace the original site. This assumption depends on the tools and techniques under development.
Wed 8 Apr 2009
Posted by Mathew
What follows is my personal experience and my evaluation of the design, if you want a quick read jump ahead to the evaluation at the end. According to Marcin and Jeremy I’m the only person to have slept in the Hexacube in below freezing conditions. (more…)
Thu 12 Mar 2009
Wednesday afternoon I packed up my most useful belongings, hitched what didn’t fit to the sides of my camping backpack and set out from Fort Greene in Brooklyn, NY to spend 3 weeks at Factor E Farm in Missouri. I’ve never been to that area of the world, and neither have many of my friends in Brooklyn. I ate my last gelato and started hiking to Newark airport for my direct flight to Kansas City.
I haven’t been so nervous about a trip in a long time. I arrived at Factor E Farm late Wednesday night. My first night was 11 degrees F but I was quite warm in a cordwood hut with my boyfriend and Jeremy. I slept inside 2 winter sleeping bags on an army cot with a yoga mat. We all slept in till 8:30 am and had oatmeal that Jeremy prepared. We wandered around, got a tour of the place from Marcin and then sat down in the cordwood hut to talk strategy.
Mathew and I had discussed the need for Factor E Farm to develop a sanitation and nutrition package before arriving. Upon arriving we were aghast to see that there was no station set up for hand washing or dishwashing that resembled our personal standards of sanitation. It took me a good hour to get over my shock. I had to remind myself that my mother and father didn’t have a well for running water until right before I was born. I’m not sure what they did before the well, my mom mentioned bathing in town.
We had a great planning session with Marcin and Jeremy and got started setting up a makeshift hand and dish washing station. We got the whole thing up and running just in time to cook dinner at 8pm tonight. We now have a 7 gallon jug of water propped up on a shelf above a stainless steel sink which empties into a 5 gallon bucket. For a dish rack we’re using a milk crate on top of a shelf for now. The set up is close to the wood stove so that the water will be a pleasant temperature. The plan is to fetch water every morning so that the 7 gallons of water will be at room temperature for most of the day. MMm . . . the sweet comfort of a clean dish. To celebrate we had some delicious burgers with grilled onions, lettuce, green peppers and melted brie.
For the record though, I strongly believe that FARMER SCIENTISTS DON’T DO DISHES. One day I hope to develop a dish washing machine here at the farm so that we can reclaim the 30 minutes we spend each day washing dishes. So spread the word: dishes are done.
Mon 23 Feb 2009
Posted by Marcin
We are posting a video update on the CEB flex fab workshop addition, plus news on the first Hexacube solar cubicle that we built in the short time that Nate and Ama were here on a visit. There is interesting information on our newly built stove – a hybrid wood/oil masonry stove with hot water heating and cooking surface.
The interesting point about the Hexacube is that it seems to be a solution for quickly-built, on-demand housing – if we want to house Dream Team 30 at Factor e Farm while we build a Solar Village as a team. The Hexacube is extremely simple to build – 6 identical panels are put together into a structural whole. The Hexacube is entirely modular, and even stackable – so we could stack multiple cubes in a ziggurat configuration. We compare the Hexacube to the Hexayurt in the video.
Privacy, warmth, wireless internet, and electricity. What more would one need to build the world’s first replicable, open source global village for real?
Read the video transcript below. (more…)
Fri 19 Dec 2008
Posted by Marcin
We have demonstrated $4/sq. ft. costs for lifetime building in the last post – based on using on-site earth as a low cost building material. When our CEB machine is optimized to 3000 bricks per day, this option becomes really attractive as a viable option for global village construction.
When our sawmill comes on-line, we will eliminate more of the costs – roof truss members, roof planks, top plate, plus window and door framing lumber.
Further cost optimization is possible – without sacrificing any building performance. If we do the work in the summer, we will eliminate the need for cement mortar – and go back to earth slurry as the mortar of choice. From our experience with the present CEB addition, we conclude that if we have sufficient roof overhangs on the building, along with proper earth berming – then soil around the foundation will be dry – and will become more dry over time – such that additional moisture protection measures will not be necessary on the foundation and outside walls. Plus, we are convinced that cement-dipped CEB blocks can be used as a substitute for rock foundations – so we will also eliminate the cost of gravel. The roof can be sheathed/shingled, and soil cement may be used to fill any questionable cracks. Nonstructural, insulating CEB block can be used to reduce the insulation costs.
The new bill of materials for the ~1000 sq ft structure look like a whopping $430 total:
This is 43 cents per square foot. People, this is radical, and hints at abundance. Just by having the infrastructure consisting of a CEB press, sawmill, and LifeTrac for power and earth moving – we can produce housing at under $1/sq ft in outsourced building materials. (more…)
Thu 11 Dec 2008
Posted by Brittany
I have a lot to say about where I am, about what I’m doing, about what I’m feeling and about bricks. And no pictures to say it with. So, please be persistent and listen to what I have to say and perhaps we’ll all be the wiser for it.
After two years of homesteading, the floors of our two small huts are still laid with dusty gravel. As a result, a thin layer of dust hangs on everything. The walls are dusty, the sheets are dusty, the shelves are dusty. On exceptionally dry days, when the dust causes Marcin to sneeze and makes his eyes water, he sprinkles water on the floors, bringing temporary relief to his ailments.
The floors aren’t the only unfinished parts of the living space at Factor E Farm. Mice scurry between the abundant holes in the walls, floor and ceiling. A light sleeper can hear them scratching as they search for bedding and crumbs. The one-person kitchen houses more mice than the rest of the farm combined. They do not care that there is no heat in the kitchen. They don’t care because they love the crumbs. The crumbs that accumulate because there is no water to wash them away. The sink in the kitchen doesn’t work and the crumbs sit where they are dropped along side piles of dirty dishes, pots, and pans. (more…)
Thu 20 Nov 2008
Posted by Marcin
Upon the suggestion of Reto Stauss of the nachhaltigBeobachtet blog, we have installed the ChipIn widget here for additional transparency in our crowd funding strategy. At the time of this post, we collected $1144, and still have $856 left to go in the November Funding Cycle for construction materials. We also have $1400 left to go for the 25-hp chainsaw sawmill prototype. Chip in:
Here are some pictures of our pressing situation:
See more images below: (more…)
