Archive for the ‘San Juan del Sur’ Category
Earthship makes Malibu Magazine!
Saturday, August 9th, 2008 
Lauren Stocker finds more than surfing waves on her trip to San Juan del Sur, a coastal town in Nicaragua earlier this year. Much more.
Her article featured in the Malibu lifestyle magazine takes us away from the tourist streets to the community of El Carizal. There she’s handed the keys to the Earthship…
“While getting on the plane to Nicaragua, I knew I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I liked that idea. I was ready to see what was waiting for me on the other side. I knew absolutely nothing of Earthships before I made my trip. It was just some “thing” I heard they were building down there.“
She was in good hands with developer Tim Kelly and Brooke Rundle, the first certified Eco-broker in Nicaragua. Brooke is also hosting the first dedicated green real estate tours to the country with Coldwell Banker. And, yes, the Earthship is featured.
Check out the article and Lauren’s mesmerizing photo journal. The photo of the bay of San Juan del Sur at the top of this post is one of them.
Nicaragua real estate - “A work of art” emerges on Day 27 of the Earthship construction
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
The building is beginning its transformation from a solid structure, to a work of art…
Thanks to Jo, Tim, and Lauren for their extra help at the site today.
Nicaragua real estate: Day 26 in the life of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Friday, February 1st, 2008
As our road is under construction, there are very small windows of opportunity to receive materials. And everyday is an opportunity to learn.
Yesterday I was promised by one fellow based out of Rivas that the sand would arrive before 7:00am, an hour and a half before the road crew arrives. I was also promised by a more local building supply store that the 60 cement bags I had ordered would also arrive before 8:00am and that we were first on the priority list for the day.
As we pulled into the site at 6:55am, the truck full of 9 cubic meters of sand was already being unloaded.
The day began with more concrete work on the water catchment system, making sure all drains were slopped at the proper angle. There is also a significant amount of mud/adobe plasterwork underway and it is drying very well. This is the time of year for making mud since it has plenty of time to cure during this dry season.
But all work slowed to a crawl as the last bag of cement was consumed at about 8:30am… We were able to keep busy, but the efficiency of work was clearly lacking for about an hour. The nice thing about building Earthships, is that there will always be dirt to move or sift and tires to pound.
At about 9:45am, the cement arrived.
Of course by this time the road was impassable. As we have done before, we hiked it to the site much like ants marching up a hill.
The day continued and progress was made. Just another good Nica-story…
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green, green building, green movement, green real estate, Nicaragua, nicaragua property, nicaragua real estate, sustainable construction, sustainable housingGreen home construction - Day 25 in the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Thursday, January 31st, 2008
The water catchment is taking form. In the next few days we will tie the finish coat on the middle dome into the gutters and cistern. We’re sloping the flow at 1 inch every four feet.
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green building, green movement, green real estate, Nicaragua, nicaragua property, san juan del sur, sustainable construction, sustainable housingLot signs are going in on Day 24 of the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Wednesday, January 30th, 2008
It’s midway through the week and it looks as though we will accomplish our short term objectives. Today we saw two hits on the dome and both gutters built up significantly.
Although the inside of the building is not currently a high priority, there are enough hands that we are able to continue with “packout” and adobe plaster. The vapor barrier is partially up in both domes as well.
A green real estate community south of San Juan del Sur
All around us things are happening. The community itself is truly developing. Lot signs are up for the remaining six lots and the road has already received its preliminary grading and compaction. The signs mark the sites for new Earthship buildings in this growing green real estate community located a little south of the town of San Juan del Sur.
The roads will be to high standard. Tim is using a very experienced crew and the material he’s throwing down is quality grade that should compact down nicely.
Green building - Day 23 of the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Tuesday, January 29th, 2008
The middle dome is ready to receive it’s first coat of plaster. Inside the building, Seth has been discussing the art of adobe plaster with the local Nicaraguan crew. The plaster work is coming along well. Lot’s of busy hands all around us.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe it’s been only 23 working days.
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green building, green real estate, nicaragua property, nicaragua real estate, sustainable construction, sustainable housingDay 22 of the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Monday, January 28th, 2008
Monday is always a natural time to lay out goals and expectations for the week, and with the addition of Phil and Seth, two of Earthship Biotecture’s finest, we decided to set our goals high.
All in all it was a decent Monday. We were able to get a skeleton of rebar up and supported for the form of the dome. The arches are glommed and scratched, ready to receive a shaping/final coat. And the wing walls are only two tire courses short of being done.
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green, green building, green movement, green real estate, Nicaragua, nicaragua property, nicaragua real estate, sustainable construction, sustainable housingGreen real estate in Nicaragua: Day 21 of the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Sunday, January 27th, 2008
The west dome has received its final coat. This morning we were hit with about a twenty minute downpour and decided that pounding tires would need to wait due to all the fresh mud. And since the dome was already wet and needed to be done eventually, we decided it was a sign.
So with Camilo sifting out the sand, Eliseo on the mixer, Eduardo and Faustino making bucket runs; Marlo and Fernando led the charge. The local community of El Carizal here are very familiar with concrete since the majority of the structures in Nicaragua are done with little more than rebar, cement, water and sand.
Every day we get more excited about the potential for green real estate here in Nicaragua
On Monday we will see Phil and Seth (Earthship Biotecture) as they have decided to come back down for another week of working on the Earthship, training the local Nicaraguan crew and, ultimately, “putting housing back into the hands of the people.”
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green, green building, green movement, green real estate, Nicaragua, nicaragua property, nicaragua real estate, sustainable construction, sustainable housingGreen real estate in San Juan del Sur: Day 18 of the construction of a Nicaraguan Earthship
Thursday, January 24th, 2008It always feels good to have work for someone. Today Frederico and Eduardo re-joined the work force. We are now six from the El Carizal community just south of San Juan del Sur and myself, a lucky seven for the rest of the week.
Today the greenhouse wall received a nice smooth (floated) coat. The exposed bottles were continuously cleaned to prevent the fresh concrete hardening on them. It really is a beautiful wall.
We have a nice rhythm going now. More supplies are set to arrive tomorrow. We’ll see what gets done…
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green, green building, green movement, green real estate, Nicaragua, nicaragua property, nicaragua real estate, sustainable construction, sustainable housingEarthship construction: Day 13
Wednesday, December 19th, 2007
The day was rainy but spirits were high. Luckily down here in Nicaragua the rain is soft and warm. Presently half of the house is harvesting water into the east cistern when it rains. This means that the oxcarts may not have to haul water for the construction of the project anymore.
Part of the goal for the remaining American team is to hand off to the Nicaraguan crew the techniques for building and Earthship. The intention is to train the local crew to be proficient in this unusual type of construction as they will be the ones building the remaining homes in the community.
Today the Nicaraguan crew plastered the bedroom dome and laid the bottle bricks. Justin worked on establishing the remaining interior arches which hold up the bond beam for the north side of the wood trusses while Demain and Ted built the forework for a portion of the bond beam on the exterior arched wall.
During lunch the sky let loose with a deluge of water making the building a slippery and muddy mess.
It certainly didn’t stop progress on the building though.
The remaining bottle formwork was completed for the systems room, more bottle work on the south wall was done and the whole site received a thorough internal cleanup as the rain has a tendency to send people inside looking for things to do in the dry.
Ladders are at a premium so the crew has become creative in building quick scaffolding to access the areas up high. The formwork on the south side is ready for concrete.
The structure is close to being built and it is now easy to imagine the proportion and location of the spaces. Two more days for the three amigos from Taos. Time has passed by too quickly and San Juan del Sur has been a beautiful and friendly temporary home.
Technorati Tags: Earthship, green, green building, green movement, green real estate, Nicaragua, nicaragua property, nicaragua real estate, sustainable construction, sustainable housing-
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