You may have seen past blog posts about the use of Guadua bamboo (Guadua sp.) a type of so-called giant bamboo that is perfect for construction. Unlike some other types of large bamboo species that grow in the Americas, Guadua is a thick walled species and has incredible tensile strength, more than steel, and much …
Shifting to Costa Rica!
Since the turmoil in Nicaragua we have become full-time in Costa Rica and Kim is available to design, build, consult and get it going! Starting soon he'll be offering several different "eco-home" solutions- smaller environmental footprint, faster build times, lower cost: Biotekt prefabricated domes with living roofs; made from 90% recycled plastic! Mocadazu luxury glamping …
New construction at Tierra del Suenos
Hip-E Habitat (aka. Permagreen Compania Limitada) just started construction of a new 2 story, 2 bedroom/2.5 bath, 2000 Square foot home on Lot #1 at Suenos (https://suenosnicaragua.com/lot-map-and-pricing/). Â It will feature a clay tile roof, and an open floor plan kitchen/living/dining upstairs with full on surf view of the Bay. Â Two air conditioned bedroom and baths …
Casa Amarilla
Casa Amarilla came about when frequent visitors Jacek and Ivona found their piece of land in the area and decided they want too build a house. Â They came to see our house and when they left they asked if I could build them one just like it. Â I thought they meant a nice solid house …
Rancho Supremo
Currently in construction: Dan and Evan partnered on a small lot close to the beach at Brisas and came to me with a few thoughts about what they wanted to build.  They wanted it to be mainly open-air but still have space that was secure and lockable.  They liked the traditional Nicaraguan Ranchos, large open air …
Designing Hacienda Boom (our house)
I (Kim) lik L-shaped or U-shaped houses with courtyards that would allow you to be outside but have privacy. Â That's where my research on floor plans started. Â My stepfather, one of the early leading architects in environmental design, took me to see several Frank Lloyd Wright houses and I was captivated, especially by the Fallingwater …
Green building in the tropics- thermal mass
When I first started researching green building I found pretty quickly that the vast majority of material, books, websites, etc. are made for people living in the temperate zones of the US and Europe. There is a ton of material for them.  When you look for green building resources for the tropics though, not so …
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Designing the Hacienda at Brisas Del Alma
The design process started with a piece of sketch paper and a discussion of how many bedrooms and other spaces we wanted. We knew we wanted two bedrooms an open living area/kitchen, an office, and of course a workshop/bodega for brewing, building and fixing surfboards; maybe even a luxurious inside bathroom (big change from where …
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Belgian IPA homebrew “Belguraguan”
OK, here’s the brew I’ve been waiting for, wanting to try for months, yearning for - a home-brewed Belgian IPA made right here in Nicaragua. I’m thinking of throwing a packet of dried Belgian yeast into our palm-thatch roof so it can just be there, growing, hanging out, ready to bring yeasty goodness to any …
“Volcan” Cacao-Cafe homebrew Stout
            The third, and possibly the best batch, in tropical home brewing adventures, almost met its end in the moldy rainy season condition of June. The rainy season brings clouds of mold that drift invisibly through the air landing on everything.   When I checked the carboy on the last day of the 15-day fermentation, I …
Windmills In Nicaragua
One of Nicaragua’s most valuable resources turns out to be wind.   Super strong (often hurricane force) and consistent winds blow across lake Nicaragua.  These amazing winds are basically Trade Winds that are funneled and amplified as the high pressure on the east coast (Caribbean) rushes through the gap in the Central American Cordillera to the …
Make Your Own Cottonwood Balm For Muscle Pain and Wound Healing
Kim was in Oregon for an early spring trip and on a hike along the Columbia River found a grove of young cottonwood trees in full bud. Cottonwood is in the same family as willow, the tree from which aspirin comes, and also has pain relieving and antibiotic qualities. This is really good stuff for …
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Growing Guadua bamboo
We had been searching for it for nearly a year, since we learned about it in Ecuador. Guadua bamboo (Guadua angustifolia and other species) is the giant bamboo species native to Central and South America. It is one of the strongest and best species to use for load-bearing construction and we wanted to find some to …
Our garden grows
We started planting the garden in late October, 2011- lots of chillies (habanero, jalapeno, arbol, New Mex, serrano and others), various greens, tomatoes, Thai basil, lemongrass, dill, tea tree, sunflowers and a bunch of randoms like purslane and indigo. Some things never sprouted at all, some sprouted and died soon after, and some flourished. Holly's …
Wild (and free) Fermentation
When we were at the Real Goods Solar Living Center in Hopland, CA last September, fermented pleasures were not (as usual) far from our minds. We had already rounded up beer-making supplies to take back to Nicaragua (no more being stuck with just Victoria and it's twin Tona!) and had been sampling micro-brews on the …
Geodesic Dome with solar, wind, geothermal power
A friend of a friend's place in NY, also has old tire terraced gardens, crushed rubber paths and an awesome 40'+ foot inside climbing rope!! Click the link to watch the video: http://www.sciencefriday.com/embed/video/10407.swf
Bamboo: Hip-E habitat?
The search for a sustainably built home has led us all over the place in the past months. We’ve been learning a lot about various green building methods and materials, from hay bales, to clay, earth ships and bamboo.   We want to build a home-base in Nicaragua and decided that the giant grass, …
Eco:Design:Life 