Eco-Nest House
Got back late last night from a 2 day workshop at Riverside (profound place – where the only Eco-Nest in Ontario is built). I am deeply inspired and charged. Architect Paula Baker-Laport designed the building and Joshua Thorton built it. I’ve had Paula’s book on my bookshelf for years, treat it a bit like a ‘bible’ for my work and have typed up her building specifications notes throughout the book to use in my work – especially for chemically sensitive/environmental illness clients (she is like this too).
Paula Baker-Laporte, Architect, Author & Building Biologist
What is a Building Biologist? From the Building Biology Institute website;
A Bau-biologist is a researcher, architect, engineer, and doctor, all in one. He or she offers a preventive and healing medicine and a creative and unifying influence. A Bau-biologist is a worker in the global effort to solve the problems that come from modem ways of building and settlement planning—ways that disregard nature and human culture.
To work for a better and more beautiful world is an extraordinary, necessary, and satisfying job. The goal is:
- to regain order and harmony in our surroundings,
- to restore the balance between nature, our buildings, and ourselves
- to help build bridges for the realization of a world that is ecologically oriented.
I highly recommend everyone should take a workshop with her and meet her one day. Paula grew up in Toronto and her mother still lives here, causing her to want to visit Toronto often. She went to U of T for her architecture degree and knew a no. of people from that ‘era’ of my life, from my early ‘20’s, really well! Her body of work is profound for me and I am so grateful that I decided to take this course at the last minute to meet her and get even better at what I love doing. I am now officially in a training stream to become a BBP – Building Biology Practitioner
I will be selling her books at the upcoming Green Living Show, April 24 – 26/09 – let me know if you want one.
Eco-Nest House
This is the course I just took; http://www.naturalbuild.ca/baub.html
This is the Eco-Nest home where the workshop was just held; http://www.naturalbuild.ca/tydr.html (Ernie & Edith the owners are Mennonites and an incredible couple!)
http://www.bakerlaporte.com/
EVERYONE should read her articles. http://www.bakerlaporte.com/articles/index.htm
and get Paula’s book on the ‘Healthy House’ http://www.bakerlaporte.com/book.htm
or her other book on Eco-Nests http://www.econest.com/bookstore/econest.htm
Here is a great article on Building Biology that she wrote; http://www.bakerlaporte.com/articles/baubiologie.htm
Here is the Building Biology website; http://buildingbiology.net/ and some other really great articles too; http://buildingbiology.net/news.php
Here is a sample newsletter from the BB website of current workshops that shows the kind of courses that I will bring her here to do at the bottom; http://buildingbiology.net/text/mar_2009_ecodwell.pdf plus what she is doing here in Canada today and tomorrow only; http://www.naturalbuild.ca/tydr.html
Here is a list of the Building Biology Principles;
Eco-Nest Interior
Building Biology Principles
From www.bau-biologieusa.com
- Natural building materials shall be used.
- Walls, floors and ceilings shall be diffusible and able to absorb water and therefore accelerate the condensation process.
- Indoor air humidity shall be regulated naturally.
- Air pollutants need to be filtered and neutralized.
- An appropriate balance of thermal insulation and heat retention.
- The air and surface temperatures of a given room needs to be optimized.
- A heating system should feature radiant heat using as much (passive) solar heat as possible.
- The total moisture content of a new building shall be low and dry out quickly.
- A building should have a pleasant or neutral smell. No toxins shall outgas.
- Light, lighting and color shall be in accord with natural conditions.
- Protective measures against noise pollution as well as infrasonic and ultrasonic vibrations need to be human oriented.
- Only building materials with little or preferably no radioactivity shall be used.
- The natural balance of atmospheric electricity and ion concentration shall be maintained.
- The Earth’s natural magnetic field shall not be altered or distorted.
- Man-made electromagnetic radiation shall be eliminated (or reduced as much as possible).
- Cosmic and terrestrial radiation is essential and shall be interfered with as little as possible.
- Interior and furniture design shall be based on physiological findings.
- Harmonic measures, proportions and shapes need to be taken into consideration.
- The production, installation and disposal of building materials shall not contribute to environmental pollution and high energy costs.
Masonry Wood Heater - using thermal mass to continuously radiate heat slowly.