And Now It's Time to Say Goodbye

The weather has changed quite a bit in Mendocino County - it's much colder in the morning and evening.  Darker too (thank you, daylight savings).  There's a noticible chill in the air even when the sun is out, letting us know we are most definietly into fall, on our way to winter. The timing feels appropriate for the intern program to come to a close.

It's crazy how fast 6 months went by. 

Eric was the first to go.  He left a number of weeks ago for Bali.  (I know, we feel real sorry for him ;)  He found an awesome job in Ubud, using his architecture background to design and naturally build a meditation-permaculture-spiritual retreat/oasis.  They needed him sooner than later, so off he went.

Then, Brittany left for Atlanta. She went home for a long Thanksgiving break.  Though, she will be back in CA to attend a Permaculture Teacher training in December.  After that, she'll join Eric in Bali.

Cassie left last week.  She's heading back home to Carmel Valley.

Next on the chopping block was David.  He left soon after Cassie, on his way back to Maine for Thanksgiving & Christmas.  In the New Year, he'll be starting a building internship at Yestermorrow.

And then there's Vaughn.  He's been MIA for a number of weeks, working in solar and house-sitting in Ukiah.  He has plans to head to Nicaragua in December for the Power to the People event, where they'll be installing solar panels for communities without electricity.  Karen, our Workshop Director, will also be attending.

That leaves me and Brandon.  Since home is not too far a way for us (the bay area) with no immediate plans (a few things brewing), we're a bit more flexible.  I think it will come down to how long we can handle the chilly nights in an uninsulated cob building.  Bring on the long johns ....

So, that's it for the 2011 interns at SLI.  I think I can speak for us all when I say our time here has been inspiring, challenging, fun and educational.  We wish the next round of interns the same and more (and hope they finish our Hybrid House.)  So, until April 2012 ... this is the Intern Class of 2011 signing off.  See you next year!

Interns with Joel Salatin (woot!) 

Moondance

- Kathryn, Brandon, Brittany, Eric, David, Cassie & Vaughn

The Hybrid House Project

You know I had to save the best post for last.  Well, this won't be the last post, but just about.  We've come to the end of the intern program, but I'll fill you in on all that later.  This post is about the coolest project the interns worked on this year.  It is called: The Hybrid House.

The initial foundation + stick frame

What's a Hybrid House?  It is a small, naturally built structure utilizing various building modalities and materials, such as cob and straw bale.  It was built using completely natural (dirt, sand, straw) and recycled (wood for stick frame, metal roof, etc) materials.
 
It started out as Cassie's idea.  The interns had to move the foundation for the tee-pee to the south lawn, right across from the intern village.  It was a sizable foundation, and with a few tweaks, would be suitable for a building.  This all happened right around the time of the Straw Bale Building Intensive.  We wanted to expand on the 2 day course and use this new foundation to actually build something that would stay there and be finished, as opposed to setting up the framework and then tearing it down (which is what happens every time that course is held.)

There wasn't enough time before the course started to make it happen, but that didn't deter our ever-eager interns.  They all put their heads together to design the most energy efficient unit they could, and were determined to find a way to make it come to life.  And come to life, it did.

Once things got rolling, Eric stepped in to spearheaded the project.  He studied architecture in undergrad and has quite a bit of hands-on natural building experience.  The project began in June, and after 5 months of hard work, the exterior is 95% done. 

Some of it's features:
This house was designed to be comfortable in the winter by retaining and maximizing heat.  Currently there are no buildings on site that do this well - many were designed to withstand the hot summer and remain cool (such as The Real Goods store, and Pachamama), but they don't do so well in the winter.  I'm pretty chilly now in Pach and it's only November.

The hybrid house has a bunch of windows on the south facing wall to allow maximum sunlight during the winter.  The sunlight will enter, heat up the earthen floor, and the straw bale insulation on the north and west walls will hold the heat.  The south awning extends down and blocks the sun rays from April through August, keeping it cooler during the summer months.  The east wall has a window to help wake up the room and warm it up in the morning.

Brittany cobbing the north facing, straw bale wall

The roof itself is pretty unique as well.  It was designed with a valley down the middle of the building to allow for maximum rainwater catchment. Rain will collect in the middle and run off towards the lower corner.  Wind will also move through it effortlessly - the "dip" in the roof allows for the NW and SE winds to pass over it easily.  The roof is made out of recycled, corrugated metal - not easy material to work with.

The south facing wall - lots of windows to draw in the winter sun

Inside, there is room for a kitchen sink and a sleeping loft was built to maximize space.

Inside: what will be the kitchen

I've included a few photos, but to see all of them you can check them out on our Hybrid House Album on Facebook.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to finish this project during our internship (so close!) , so 2012 interns .... you have a project ready and waiting for you!