Scott Rawz

Hi Vanessa!

Northern Arizona is a great place!  I recently started a 10 acre Permaculture demonstration site in Parks about 30 mins outside of Flagstaff.  We are rapidly building connections with other sustainability/Permaculture folks in the area and trying to move things forward.  Lots of opportunities to meet like minded people.

If you are in the area, I can add you to our email list and start introducing you to people.  It may be a good way to find a partner in your endeavor.

-Scott

Thanks for all of the tips!

Since I already have the steel structure coming in, I think that I will not be doing the RV suggestions.  It will be interesting to see how close I come to the RV price though; all in so far for my 24x25 structure will be about $8k including plumbing and materials for rocket mass heater.

I like the idea about using the high R value paint - I am a little worried about the chemicals though.  I will probably end up at least painting the outside and maybe adding some external insulation in the form of a felt liner covered with pond liner covered with some type of living roof.  Im going to have to look at the loading capacity though.

I think that I will have enough room to do some strawbale on the inside (at least for half of the structure. with some natural plaster.  Hopefully this will improve the R value while keeping some of the chemicals out.

Thanks again everyone for the advice!

-Scott

Hi,

So I came across a very cheap prefabricated steel garage for sale that I am looking at using on a property I am developing in Northern Arizona.  Originally, I was opposed to using a steel building because of concerns about airflow, condensation, insulation, and embedded energy.  But because of some of the regulations about livable structure requirements, price, and my current living situation - it became an attractive opportunity for me to get the steel structure to have a place to stage resources in while I build a cob/strawbale house hybrid.  I am thinking about living in this 24c25x13 ft steel garage (shaped like a half-pipe with one end plugged) while I get all of the legal and permitting done for building my house.  I was thinking of plugging the open end with a strawbale wall and plastering over it to allow some privacy, protection from elements, and some airflow.  Any other ideas to improve living conditions for this steel garage without resorting to even more industrial solutions?  Anyone have good/bad experiences with steel buildings?  Here is a picture of a similar building for reference



I will not have the garage door or wall , just a big semicircular hole.


Thanks for the help!

Thanks!  Loaded another video to the youtube channel today and I found out that I will close on the property next week!  Now I just have to get everything squared away with the "department of making you sad"  luckily just having to work with the county - so hopefully it will not be too much of a headache.  I am going to be getting into the brass tacks of everything that I am having to do to turn this piece of land that was used for dumping metal and glass into a permaculture playground

Based on what I heard in Paul's DVD I am considering doing all of the trees from seed - so patience will be a virtue I guess...

Hi,  

I have not posted here before - but I have creepily stalked the forums for a while now gleaning information about Permaculture since I took my PDC a year ago  

I am in the process of acquiring a 10 acre property 30 minutes outside of Flagstaff to remediate using permaculture principles and design.  I intend to use the property as a retreat center where people can escape the rat race and see/learn about living a simpler and more sustainable life.  There is a dearth of knowledge in the community about practicing permaculture at high altitude, windy, semi-arid landscape.  Most people I talk to are clueless about how to even get their apples producing regularly (Flagstaff is zone 6-7).  Hopefully my project will help to show and inspire people in this area to grow more food in a sustainable and resilient way!  The local community is fairly conservation-minded and there is a sizable community of "bunker preppers" an hour away.  This should be an area where the message and benefits of permaculture "take root".  Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome!

oh, and I started a (pretty unpolished) video collection exploring permaculture - in the future, this will morph into a "walkthrough" of developing a permaculture property with natural buildings.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw2syEwqHwdmBicE9LN_AcXeroOPAMxtI

Thanks everyone! Looking to get more involved moving forward!

Scott
Northern Arizona