[GSBN] Natural Builders Northeast - 2014 Annual Gathering

[ejgeorge at riseup.net]

Hello all,

After collaborating with what sounds like a very successful Ontario Natural Building Conference, the Natural Builders Northeast group is excited to announce our own Annual Gathering next month near Ithaca, NY, USA. All are welcome, and if you happen to know any natural builders not on this list in the US Northeast or Mid-Atlantic states, please forward! Thanks all!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t63vpup4bd46gt9/2014%20nbne%20formal.doc

ej

ej George, CSBA

NBNE 2014 ANNUAL GATHERING 

FRI-SUN, APRIL 4TH-6TH 

MIRTHWOOD EARTHSHIP  

212 Caroline Depot Road  

Brooktondale, NY 14817  

 _HTTP://MAPQ.ST/1LDNJ2L_     

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE (PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS ARE BELOW, ADDITIONAL BREAKOUT SESSIONS ARE LIKELY TO EMERGE ONCE WE GATHER!):   

_FRIDAY, APRIL 4__TH_  

Arrival: anytime afternoon, optional tours (more info coming soon) & possible lazure demo  

Dinner:  pizza party & ice cream sundae bar (~5-7pm)  

Evening Fun: 7:00-9:00  

  *  

EARTHSHIP TOUR   
  *  

ADVANCED SKETCHUP TECHNIQUES SKILLSHARE, /Aaron Dennis/  

_SATURDAY, APRIL 5__TH_   

Breakfast, Intros & Icebreakers (8:30-10:00)  

Morning Sessions: 10:00-12:30   

  *  

HEATING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL BUILDINGS, /Steve Paisley/  
  *  

NATURAL KITCHENS/, Diana Katzmann/ 

Lunch break (12:30-2), Breakout discussions including CREATIVE INSPIRATION, /Diana Katzmann/  

Afternoon Sessions: 2:00-5:00  

  *  

STRAW/CELL SYSTEMS: DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION, /Aaron Dennis with Deva Rascusin, Ace McArelton, & Ben Graham/ 
  *  

ASSIGNING MARKET VALUES TO NATURAL HOMES /Brent Katzmann/  

Dinner break (5-7)  

Evening Fun: 7:00-10:00  

  *  

NATURAL BUILDING PECHA KUCHA 20x20 slideshows (more info below) 

_SUNDAY APRIL 6__TH_  

Breakfast  & NBNE business 8:30-10:00  

Morning sessions: 10:00-1:30  

  *  

SMALL BUSINESS FORUM /Brent Katzmann/ 
  *  

BUILDING FOR THE 99% /Maria Klemperer-Johnson / - Lunch discussion  

Afternoon  

  *  

OUTGOING TOURS (Optional self-guided tours of several local natural/green buildings including a tiny house, some green homes with natural & salvaged features, and of course a couple timberframed strawbale houses. 

/Please RSVP ASAP to ejgeorge @ riseup.net so we can be sure to have sleeping spaces and food for everyone! Your local hosts are also able to accomadate travelers  who need to stay Thursday &/or Sunday nights as well./  

_WHAT TO BRING:_  

Our annual meetings are casual, low-cost affairs. We provide meals, programming, and places to sleep. To help keep costs low, we ask participants to please bring:  

  *  

BYOUrself 
  *  

BYOBeverages 
  *  

BYOBedding* (most folks bring sleeping bags, there are some beds available - see below)* 
  *  

BYOPlace Setting (plate, cup, bowl & silverware; probably a water bottle too) 

also  

  *  

BYOFP&STs (favorite pizza topping & favorite sundae topping for Friday night festivities!) 

and  

  *  

BYOEtc - bring any cool new materials samples or product info you feel is worth sharing 
  *  

Also bring some cold hard cashor a check  to pay for expenses (probably $55-70/person). 
  *  

And musical instruments are always encouraged!!! 

_*LODGING:_  

The Earthship has several beds and a good amount of floorspace for anyone willing to BYOBedding. Your four local host families have additional beds & futons available as well.   

If you would like more privacy, you are welcome to arrange your own accomodations. Some suggestions:  

  *  

Air B&Bs: https://www.airbnb.com/s/14817 or https://www.airbnb.com/s/ithaca--NY 
  *  

La Tourelle: http://www.latourelle.com/ 
  *  

EcoVillage: http://ecovillageithaca.org/visit/ 

_LOCAL ATTRACTIONS:_  

Ithaca and the Finger Lakes of NY are home to numerous parks & gorges, museums, not too mention wineries, cideries, & more. So feel free to come early, stay late, or sneak off for a bit!  

  *  

http://www.visitithaca.com/ 
  *  

http://www.fingerlakes.org/ 
  *  

http://www.fingerlakeswinecountry.com/Things-to-do_Wine-tasting.aspx 

_PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS_   

ADVANCED SKETCHUP TECHNIQUES SKILLSHARE /facilitated by Aaron Dennis/  

 Share your most advanced sketchup models, techniques and resources. After the earthship tour we will have a virtual tour with questions and answers of the behind the scenes 3-D designs that we have been working on with a focus on how all that magic actually gets done. Bring prints of plans that you have made with sketchups layout software.   

HEATING SYSTEMS FOR NATURAL BUILDINGS /facilitated by Steve Paisley/  

 How well do various heating systems integrate into natural buildings with different heating loads? Is a wood stove just as good as (or better than) a masonry heater for low-load, high-mass buildings? Should we all be just adding PV and heating (and cooling) with ductless mini-splits (or ground-source heat pumps)? Are boiler-heated radiant floors dead (as one article in GBA suggested)? What about indoor wood boilers?
Please feel freeto share specific experiences of systems in terms of how they fit into the design of a natural building, costs, comfort, sustainability, and user happiness. If a picture or slide or two will help us all visualize your system - please send to Steve at everydayispoetry @ gmail.com 

NATURAL KITCHENS, /presented by Diana Katzmann/  

 Green kitchen designer Diana Katzmann will offer tantalizing images of non-traditional kitchens, layout recipes of what you need to make them work for your clients, and lead us into a discussion of more natural kitchen materials options - from countertops to finishes. Feel free to bring samples of materials or products  you've used and enjoyed.  

CREATIVE INSPIRATION, breakout lunch discussion, /facilitated by Diana Katzmann/  

/ /Where do you look for creative inspiration? Nature? Travels? Blogs? Let's share inspirations!  

STRAW/CELL SYSTEMS: DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION, /presented by Aaron Dennis with Deva Rascusin, Ace McArelton, & Ben Graham/  

 Aaron, Deva, Ace and Ben will share their designs of strawcell wall systems - the new kid on the block.  The basic idea of adding a framed wall filled with cellulose insulation to the outside of the bale wall in place of exterior plaster opens up new possibilities for creating walls that meet rigorous building standards, allows for extended season construction, provides easy attachments for siding and more.  A discussion of design will be followed by examples of recent, real-live strawcell buildings that have been built and what we have learned from it.   

ASSIGNING MARKET VALUES TO NATURAL HOMES /presented by Brent Katzmann/    

 How do you determine the value of a natural home? Green builder and local realtor Brent Katzmann will briefly present some examples of  natural homes that have gone up for sale in recent years - what was the original building cost? how was it appraised and what was used for comps? how long was it on the market? what did it sell for? etc. If you have similar info on buildings in your area, please bring it to add to the discussion.  

PECHA KUCHA    

 Up to 20 slides of your most recent work x 20 seconds/slide = 6 minutes & 40 seconds of natural building fame & glory! If you'd like to participate, please send copies of slides by March 25th to aaron @ tugleywood.com (Please label slides as: yourname1, yourname2, etc...) Max 20 slides/person.    

SMALL BUSINESS FORUM, /facilitated by Brent Katzmann/  

 Facilitated group discussion on running a small construction company - from business structure and organization options to managing a small business (time management, scheduling, site management, risk management, personnel issues, dealing with subs, etc ), along with shared advice on the 'how-to-stay-sane/-enjoy-a-family-life/-find-time-&-money-to-afford-an-occasional-vacation-/-etc-while-running-your-own-natural-construction-business-with-constantly-either-too-much-or-not-enough-work-and-meanwhile-your-new-carpenter-hire-who-took-a-week-off-to-visit-friends-in-chicago-just-called-to-say-he-won't-be-back-to-finish-out-your-current-over-deadline-project-cause-he-just-joined-a-rock-band' sort of thing.   

BUILDING FOR THE 99%, /facilitated by Maria Klemperer-Johnson/  

 All of us want to be paid a fair wage for our time and  expertise, as well as  pay our labor a living wage for their work. When building a home of quality, even a modestly sized one, labor costs can easily push the price of that house to a level only the 1% can afford. Discussions about building affordable housing usually center around modular design, lowering quality, and paying labor less. Is there another way? Can we change the system so the 99% can afford a well built, carefully thought out, custom home. Is it possible to simplify design and reduce size enough to build an affordable home that still has character, craftsmanship, and fairly paid labor? Is the only way to offer the 99% something of quality to teach them how to do it themselves? This will be an open ended discussion.  

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