"All construction is destruction", as Ianto Evans says. The single best way to conserve resources is to better utilize the ones we have already put to use. We not only "recycle" the materials of the building itself, but we utilize infrastructure already in place as well.

When asked about finding affordable places to build, my first response is to not to seek out nice, natural places—you will rarely be able to successfully compete for those—but to look for ruined places, places our culture has used up and cast aside. It's less likely to be a romantic stone barn than a worn-out relic from the 1950's that still has "good bones", worth returning to life.

This is where your desire to build a place for yourself, coupled with an ecological commitment, can actually help heal the earth.

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Powell House Church of St. Paul Share Printing Offices McDaniel Barn Bason House

University Lutheran Chapel Ralph Murphy Apartment Tenny Brownstone Garage Renovation