Ecological Engineering

defined as the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human society with its natural environment for the benefit of both....


Focused on making the earth Greener one step at a time.....


I am happy to be now offering Ecological Engineering services. It is important to understand that out impact on this planet goes well beyond housing, and I am trying to step back and offer a more holistic service if desired. My focus is still housing, with more of a focus on community and connection with all.



My first dark retreat early 2022 helped me find my path. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was convinced of the power of the dark for self healing and to help unleash our true self. Since then I have been inspired to build and help facilitate dark retreating in Northern Washington (my home) as well as Oregon. Something like Dark Retreat Washington (DRW). I build tiny homes and am passionate about simple, affordable housing for the masses. I have a great potential spot for retreating and am looking to find like minded individuals to collaborate on moving the construction of dark retreats forward. It is an offgrid property which adds further complications, mainly with dark heating, especially in the winter. Perhaps in the shorter term someone else who lives in the area might have an existing structure that we could darken to use more quickly? I want to retreat this winter and if several people come together with a space this could happen locally this year, instead of me having to drive to Oregon. At a minimum, I would love to find people to carpool to DRO. I am always looking for ways to synergize with people, whether it is in tiny homes, simple living, or other ways. I am an engineer/inventor and I love finding solutions to problems. My latest creation is what I call a Simple Offgrid Living (SOL) camper. I built a very simple (cozy) living space, complete with rain water collection, running hot and cold water, propane hot water heat and lighting. I built it on a free trailer that was made out of a dead truck. Just an example of how simply we can live, and how affordably. My SOL camper cost just over $1000 in total and could provide someone a simple living space year round. For now, I have it on Airbnb and it is doing well, people love it. I also recently had a powerful dream where I was getting a group of people together with the simple goal of setting a group intention to create something wonderful for the good of society. Let's make that happen!


Here are some links to my property and my airbnbs.


Here is a video of my Ferndale Property, complete with Sauna built in horse trailer

https://youtu.be/XMTQtxEw9Wk


SUSTAINABLE HOUSING:


So much of our limited resources are wasted paying for huge houses to live in that involve a massive amount of waste (building & heating/cooling). Couples living in excessively large houses. There are also a huge number of "snow birds" who go south in the winter and have houses that are vacant half the year. Such a waste. Many people contribute the majority of their income on housing, forcing them to be corporate slaves working 40 + hours a week just to get by. We are not meant to be living like this. Why not simplify things, living in a much lower cost, simpler house and enjoy life and our family more? It also doesn't make sense for us to live apart from our families and send old people to home (homes that force patients to sell everything to pay for it). Everything is so broken, it is up to us, collectively, to fix it. But this change wont come easy.


The average size of new, single family homes built in the United States grew 62 percent from 1,660 square feet in 1973 to 2,687 square feet in 2018, an increase of 1,027 square feet. My micro homes start at under 100 sq. ft for a single person, and up to 240 sq. ft for small families. That is a factor of 10 times smaller than the average home, and approx. 10 times cheaper. Think about it, you could build 10 tiny homes for the cost of an average size home. And my tiny homes are so simple. They don't have septic systems and use environmentally friendly composting toilets and grey water systems. You can easily drop $10k to $20k on a septic system, that is about the same cost as the tiny home itself. My spaces are either heated with wood heat (with propane backup) or propane in floor radiant heating as a cost of less than $500. Many are completely off grid.


I am not a builder myself, I am more of a designer and project manager. At times I play the general contractor role. I have worked in industry as a Project Engineer for over 25 years. My whole career is all about reducing waste and getting the most done for the least costs. I am all about efficiency and use of super low cost (often free) building materials. I build micro homes for under $5k. I have several school bus conversions that also cost me less than $5k and are fully road worthy/legal. I fully support diy in the constructions of your homes. I often offer free advice, or can be hired as a consultant, project manager or general contractor.


PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION: 

Here are some of my tiny homes:


https://airbnb.com/h/clearcabin-clearmind

https://airbnb.com/h/silverliningtinyhome

https://airbnb.com/h/stonehut

https://airbnb.com/h/mushroomdome

https://airbnb.com/h/sol-camper

https://airbnb.com/h/simplecamper


100 sq. ft Microhome Under Construction:

https://sites.google.com/a/greenconversion.net/www/home/38770611_10161022372810647_7253250854344458240_o.jpg?attredirects=0   

Stucco exterior          Re-purposed Sail for cover        Stone Wall using free stone
using free onsite         and water catchment              Counter Top Material
aggregate

    
Foundation                          Loft with driftwood railing        Clear, double wall ceiling

     
                                            Driftwood                Clear roof from above
                                            Staircase

My Next Project:
Free Prowler camper stripped for trailer

Completed Projects:
Studio

       
Thomas School Bus Conversion
 

                        
Zen School Bus Conversion

    
Ford Bus Conversion

          
Airstream

Shared Bath House
 
  
    
Cottage

Many more to be uploaded!

LINKS