Hoads McToads

Alright...
We're having our first meeting on Thursday, bound to be tons of fun.

Chris, I got in touch with EWB and some other engineering groups and we're working with them and some other faculty to get into shops and labs around campus to do material research and testing. That being said if anyone has any cool ideas or things you've tried before but isn't much data on we are going to have a huge opportunity here to get physical results from (hopefully) all sorts of labs.

Hoser, I've heard of the book...I'll keep my eyes open for a copy.

Unfortunately CU isn't really part of Boulder... physically sure, but its a state institution run by businessmen. The reason we can't explore architecture is we're trying to research, build, and test. A small group of us can't very well put up structures on the weekends. Or maybe we can. You may have just inspired me to take this a step further. I'm almost sure CU will have nothing to do with it but maybe some local farms...

I like the solar oven idea too.

@H Ludi Tyler... I dig the appropedia link, thanks.

@Springtime Homes... I go to University of Colorado. As for passive solar, it is awesome and definitely applicable to our climate but our group isn't trying to design structures of any kind. Way too much red tape, not enough time or money.

@Duane McCoy... Indeed, shame on them. I looked into geopolymers for a project I did this semester, pretty cool stuff. I ended up scrapping the idea for some reason or another but I'd be interested in experimenting with it. I think we'll definitely want some soil engineers to delve into it with us. From the research I did do I remember there being some fairly significant kaolinite depoisits in Colorado that are mined... maybe we could get our hands on some?

@Dennis Mitchell... Oh how times have changed. Nowadays you won't get a second glance if you're not trying to reinvent the wheel for every project. Digital has taken over, I was one of two people out of probably 100 to hand draft and hand craft my presentation drawings and models. Do you think you would stopped driving your wagon down the street? try it.

Hi Lolly,

You most certainly can... part of my reasoning for posting here was to get ideas for the group.

Thanks!

Let me clarify something...

The purpose of this club is to take on small scale projects and build them... things of the scale that a group of around ten people who potentially have jobs and full courseloads can handle on their off time. The group's aim is not to explore architecture but to explore small scale technologies associated with building.

Hey there...

I've been perusing this forum for the past few months... here goes on the first post.

I'm studying architecture... it sucks. All the architects I know and a vast majority of students really don't give a gosh darn about "sustainability" aside from qualifying for the next rank of LEED. I don't plan on sticking around the field for too long but while I'm here I figure I might as well have some fun and try to teach some other, more conscious students some cool stuff.

So I'm starting a club called something along the lines of Ecological Technologies. We'll have a partnership with our engineering school so hopefully we can get some cool graphs and charts with fancy numbers on 'em. In the club I'd like to hit some uncharted (at least as far as the educational system is concerned) territory. Some cool stuff that I thought we could tackle was as follows:

Rocket Stoves

Rocket Mass Heaters(a bit ambitious perhaps)

Wall Systems (Cob, Straw bale, Rammed Earth, Earthbags)

Plastering

Parabolic Solar Collectors

I know there is a wealth of awesome technologies we could delve into and these are just a few.
This semester is basically over but I'll be getting the ball rolling in January and I'll definitely be posting our adventures on here.

I'd love ideas for what we could get our hands dirty with and any feedback once we're started would be awesome too.

-Oliver