Open Building Institute: Eco-Building Toolkit - Kickstarter Crowdfunding

[sanjay jain]

Hi all,

I thought some of you may be interested in this:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/622508883/open-building-institute-eco-building-toolkit

We’re developing an open source eco-building toolkit to make the construction of ecological housing easier, cheaper, faster—and put it within the reach of everyone.

The OBI toolkit is entirely open source—free to use and modify—and will enable anyone to:

Design a house and/or greenhouse—that respects the planet and can be expanded as your needs and family grow—using a library of modules that fit together like building blocks

Learn how to build with instructionals and training programs

Organize the rapid-build of a house loaded with ecological features

Through a series of experimental builds over the past few years, we learned that it is possible to construct a modular starter home—with an attached aquaponic greenhouse and loaded with ecological features—for under $25k in materials and in as little as 5 days.

We already have a lot of work in place, but there is much more to do. We are coming to you for help to further refine this toolkit and make it (more) accessible to everyone.

How it Works

The process in a nutshell:

1) We started by creating an open source library of modules—construction parts that can be put together like building blocks—along with guides for design, building and development. You can download a collection of walls, roofs, doors and windows and design a complete, buildable structure. Imagine having all the tools you need to design your own house and/or greenhouse easily and for free! You can also choose from a variety of house models contributed by designers around the world.

2) The modular system, combined with a formula for rapid builds, makes it possible for a large group of (mostly inexperienced) people to then build this house in as little as 5 days.

3) Builds can be executed by a contracted crew, a group of friends and relatives, or using a social production model. In this social production model, builds are structured as educational experiences and take place in the context of training workshops.

Rest at: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/622508883/open-building-institute-eco-building-toolkit