Thread by @mnt_io

With my wife, we are building an extremely ecological self-sufficient house (made of straw, wood and earth), while being modern too.

The house is out of the grid for electricity & water, and there is no heating system.

The construction has finally started after 1.5 years.

1/3

We share our story on a blog, in French only so far (I will translate the story in English later).

Last week was the first day, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/04/04/car…

2/3

And yesterday it has started for real, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/04/08/car…

If you have any questions, please ask. Answers will land on the blog, but I will be happy to answer here now.

Shoot.

3/3

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Our house has no heating system. It is insulated from the ground by using cellular glass: a material made at 90% of **recycled** glass, with air inside. Check that out.

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/04/19/car…

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

All the technical stuff has been laid out.

I'm late, but it's here!

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/05/04/car…

#lamaisonvivante #ecology #house

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Tuesday, we have seen the recycled concrete (up to 40-50%). Concrete is one of the most polluting sector of the industry, we must reduce its usage to the minimum.

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/05/07/14-…

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Semi-level 2 has been achieved in 4 days only!

One more semi-level and it will be time to install the straw! Can't wait :-].

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/05/17/16-…

#house #ecology #selfSufficiency

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Semi-level 3/3 is done.

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/05/27/17-…

#house #ecology #selfSufficiency

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

How to be 100% self-sufficient in water? lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/05/29/18-…

tl;dr: Collect & filter rain, make it drinkable, use products requiring less water (like @nebia shower , or EcoFlush wostman.se/en/ecoflush/ toilet)

@nebia 🏠🌱 New achievement for our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Straw is here!! Blog post is coming soon.

#house #ecology #straw

@nebia 🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/06/19/19-…

Straw has been delivered! The article contains an HD timelapse of the day and many photos.

#house #ecology #SelfSufficiency #straw #timelapse

🏠 🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

First installation day for the straw! Lot of feelings.

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/06/24/20-…

More pictures and a time lapse inside the article.

#house #ecology #SelfSufficiency #timelapse #straw

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

2nd and last installation day for the straw! All the walls have been set up in 2 days only 🎉! Tomorrow: The framework

The article contains photos & an HQ timelapse

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/06/25/21-…

#house #ecology #straw

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Preparing the framework and starting the installation. It goes so fast!

The article contains photos & an HQ timelapse, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/06/26/22-…

#house #ecology #SelfSufficiency #straw #wood

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Framework is over, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/06/27/23-…. Photos are awesome. It was a magic moment to go into the house yesterday night.

The timelapse is awesome too. Take a look.

#house #ecology #SelfSuffiency #straw #wood

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Why the self-sufficiency? lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/07/05/pou…

We explain that #selfSufficiency is a constraint to innovate & optimize. We talk about the impacts too (#economical, #environmental…).

Our best article so far.

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

How to do electricity in the straw? lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/08/26/25-…

We mostly show pictures of the progress. It's fun, but exhausting (we do it ourself)!

#house #selfSufficiency #electricity #straw #ecology

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Partitions in natural gypsum & wood, and electricity. Lot of progresses!

lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/09/11/26-…

#house #selfSufficiency #electricity #gypsum #ecology

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Electricity is progressing well, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/09/29/28-…. Some pictures. It's fun.

#electricity #house #selfSufficiency #straw #ecology

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Reduce by 30% the amount of water to heat with a drain water heat recovery, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/10/01/29-….

Simple. Efficient. Stop wasting energy :-).

#house #selfSufficiency #ecology #water

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

56 photovoltaic panels are installed 😎☀️, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/10/07/30-….

#house #selfSufficiency #ecology #sun #electricity

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Roof is finished !, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/10/27/31-… and lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/11/08/33-….

#house #selfSuffiency #ecology

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

After a pause of 3 weeks, windows are finally here! The construction site can resume. lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/10/31/32-…

Triple layers, made of wood, aluminium and glass only.

#house #selfSuffiency #ecology #windows #wood

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

First layer of earth (clay) on the walls, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/11/16/34-…! That's really exciting! A second and a third (finish) layers will come in 3 weeks.

#house #selfSufficiency #ecology #earth #clay #wall #insulation

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

The facades are finished!

Another crazy idea: We use _burnt wood_! No wood stain, no oil, nothing, garanteed to last more than 60 years.

It's magic :-)! lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/12/04/35-…

#house #selfSufficiency #ecology

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Second earth layer on the walls, roof is finished, ceiling is finished, turbo mode, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/12/06/36-….

#house #selfSufficiency #ecology #earth #clay #wood

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

How we make rain water drinkable, in 4 simple steps, lamaisonvivante.blog/2019/12/10/37-….

3 filters + 1 UV lamp. The set is very compact.

#house #selfSufficiency #ecology #water #rain #drinkable

Last layer of earth/clay on the wall. Time to unprotect the “window of truth”, it’s a hole in the wall to prove the house is made of straw.

Clay’s color isn’t definitive until totally dry. More pictures soon.

#house #straw #ecology

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Last earth/clay layer on the walls, pictures are marvelous, lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/01/11/38-….

#house #straw #earth #clay #ecology #selfSufficiency

Tonight is house automation night. Let’s begin.

@CONTROLLINO @arduino

F*ck Yeah.

Thanks Dad for your help!

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Dry screed with wood fiber: Good insulation, natural, ecological, recyclable. It rocks!

See the blog post: lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/01/17/39-….

#ecology #house #selfSufficiency #wood #screed

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

The integrated greenhouse is installed! lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/01/18/40-…

Outside inside. Open ground. -4°C outside, 18°C inside. Comfortable place to live. Passive heating.

#ecology #house #selfSufficiency #greenhouse

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Electricity is almost finished, lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/01/19/41-…! Electricial board, plugs, blinds, buttons, switches, house automation, tests…

#ecology #house #selfSufficiency #electricity #houseAutomation

M-4d

M-3d

M-2d

M-1d

Tomorrow is the day we move in our self-sufficiency, extremely ecological house, made of straw, wood and earth. The house isn’t finished yet, almost, kind of, but we can’t wait any longer.

Expect a blog post soon. Those last days were crazy!

Air outside: 2°C

Air coming inside the ventilation (through a pipe under the ground): 8.2°C

Air inside the house: 21°C

Air inside the integrated green house: 32°C

I mean. It works as hell!!! Warm house with no heating system 😎.

Expect a blog post soon.

Thanks @nebia. It really is a new experience. So smooth. The more you test it, the more you want to stay in this cocoon.

PS: Funniest part is random visitors asking to take a shower in our home.

PPS: On the picture, height is for children.

@nebia 🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

After a crazy week, we finally moved in our house, lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/02/01/42-…. It isn't finished yet, but what a joy!

#selfSufficiency #ecology

Wind at 100-140km/h here.

Our straw-made house still stands up. EAT THAT STUPID WOLF! The first of the three little pigs was right!!

🐷❤️

Before and after 4G antenna: 3Mb/sec -> 45Mb/sec.

Our house is not connected to phone lines (no ADSL, VDSL…), only a 3G/4G router. It just rocks. And it is cheap (in Switzerland).

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Inside finishing stage, lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/02/16/43-….

Spoiler: It's warm now inside the house!

#house #selfSufficiency #ecology

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

How to get a fast, low-cost Internet connection, lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/02/18/44-….

The article explains how to find a router, an antenna, and how to get all the information (providers' frequencies, antenna locations…).

🏠🌱New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

How to live without a heating-system, lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/04/29/38-….

This article explains we have removed the heating system, entirely, by using insulation, good ventilation, ground-coupled heat exchanger, greenhouse…

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

Building up the carport, lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/03/13/2-c…. It's a simple construction! Done in March.

#house #ecology #selfSufficiency

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

What to do with the overflow of the water tanks? Easy: Let's dig a brook to the pond!

lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/03/14/3-t…

Done in March.

#house #ecology #selfSufficiency

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

The land has no cover crop. And the soil is super hard. Solution: Ask a farmer for help.

lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/03/27/4-c…

Done in March.

#house #ecology #selfSufficiency

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

The greenhouse wasn't finish. It's time to add more earth, and to plant, plant, and plant more.

lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/04/04/5-i…

Done in April, during the Covid lock-done.

#house #ecology #selfSufficiency

🏠🌱 New episode about our self-sufficient and ecological house!

How to protect the greenhouse from the sun? With sailings! It's all natural: Made of flax (from France), an old sail-loft hand-made custom sailings for us.

lamaisonvivante.blog/2020/07/12/7-v…

#house #ecology #selfSuffiency

🌱 This year we've travelled ~12'000km in perfectly self-sufficiency: From March to October we've _never_ charged our electric car (Nissan Leaf) outside our self-sufficient home.

We saved around ~1300CHF (~1200€) and ~1400kg/CO2, compared to our previous gasoline car.

#ecology