From the article :

"what if a house could nurture the people living inside and the world outside too? What if a house could feed its occupants? Power itself? Boost biodiversity? Bond a community? And at the end of its life, leave no trace?"

A new book entitled "Houses that Can Save The World" 150 different projects are featured

"Some repurpose existing spaces, such as Ensamble Studio's off-grid cave dwelling in Menorca, Spain. Others revive and update ancient construction methods, like ZAV Architects' adobe building community in Hormuz, Iran."

The following submission statement was provided by /u/_613_:

From the article :

"what if a house could nurture the people living inside and the world outside too? What if a house could feed its occupants? Power itself? Boost biodiversity? Bond a community? And at the end of its life, leave no trace?"

A new book entitled "Houses that Can Save The World" 150 different projects are featured

"Some repurpose existing spaces, such as Ensamble Studio's off-grid cave dwelling in Menorca, Spain. Others revive and update ancient construction methods, like ZAV Architects' adobe building community in Hormuz, Iran."

Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/zjpw04/houses_that_can_save_the_world_these_homes_offer/izw0car/

Can we save the planet without having to live in Whoville?

I think we gotta go there...

Read "architecture for the poor". Reviving traditional building techniques is not a new idea, but it is incompatible with capitalism. Making poor people self sufficient only makes them harder to control and exploit.

Planet doesn't need saving.

The planet's ability to sustain current human lifestyles needs saving.

Planet will be fine without us. Probably better.

Imagine trying to hang pictures on the damn walls!

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So… one billion single story single family homes. Not sure of that is efficient use of materials.

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Every new building in EU must now comply to Near Zero Energy standard. We can NOW build houses that are green.

If you get a big garden, you can even feed yourself. And it doesn't have to look like a tray of eggs.

I was thinking more Barbapapa houses.

We need more density. Without density mass transit isn't economical. The lower the density, the more expensive it gets to build and maintain infrastructure. Yet faster-to-build or energy-efficient single-family detached homes will not be an appreciable part of any solution. Low density doesn't scale. And it takes up more land, by definition, precluding that land from being reforested, renewed as grassland, rewilded, etc. "Not everyone wants to live in density" is true, but also doesn't address the above points.

Must this really be repeated every single time an article mentions trying to solve human destruction?

Yes, we know the rock floating in space will be fine. We are referring to preserving, halting the further meaningless destruction caused by humans, and kickstarting repairs of current ecosystems, not actually literally saving the rock floating in space. Nobody is referring to this when they say save the planet.

>Must this really be repeated every single time an article mentions trying to solve human destruction?

Yes.

i have always thought about self sufficiency of housing. i have alwayshoped to see housing which not only was from the natural surroundings, but also gave the owner the means to be self sufficient: garden plot; water extractor; renewable energy power--- and the house itself: i like the idea of hobbit style houses made from local surrounding materials: mud daub walls/roof, maybe a treehouse from wood? But i would be worried about how long the wood would last.