Have you heard of the 100-mile diet? This is the 100-mile house! The goal with this build was to source and salvage as many materials as possible from within a 100-mile radius to reduce the carbon emissions associated with transporting building materials, to re-use materials in order to reduce the environmental impact of building with new materials, and finally, to support local builders and craftspeople by paying them a fair wage for their work.Exploring Alternatives
source/image(PrtSc): Exploring Alternatives
Briony Penn is a well-known artist, writer, naturalist, and educator.She has been working in the field of conservation for 40 years through her work as a lecturer at UVic, as the author of several books, and with over 500 published articles on environmental issues.
Of course, when an opportunity came up for Briony to build a home, she took the responsibility very seriously. The 100-mile house idea was a way to help her reduce the impact of building her home.
Advertisement
She built with the smallest footprint possible (within municipal regulations) with approx. 1000 square feet of living space and she shares the land with her sister who also built a small home next door. Together they share the driveway, well, septic, and electricity, and they also protected the rest of the 5-acre property since it is a biodiverse area with several species of endangered wildflowers found there.via/read more: Exploring Alternatives
