Wednesday, September 15, 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Lance Armstrong Foundation, 2201 East 6^th Street, Austin, TX (Map)

What is Permaculture? Let’s start with Wikipedia’s definition:

Permaculture is huge. It encompasses wonderful things such as organic gardening/farming, green building, and natural stormwater systems. It embraces three ethics: Care of the earth, Care of people, and Dispersal of surplus time, money and materials towards these ends.

This month’s program is an introduction to permaculture and will include:

♦ Permaculture ethics

♦ Permaculture principles

♦Why it is important

♦How you can start applying the principles

Our presenter, Kirby Fry, studied under Bill Mollison, one of the original developers of permaculture, and now teaches and offers design consulting services through his firm, Southern Exposure.  He is also familiar with conventional agriculture and forestry, having studied Natural Resource Conservation at Texas A & M University. Kirby also has over 15 years of experience as a building contractor, including several natural building projects. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Guatemala.

This presentation is free and open to the public. No reservation required. For more information contact Scott through “Contact Us” or 512-689-1149.

October 25-30, 2010

A six-day intensive workshop in Elgin, Texas

Learn How to Build Your Own Cordwood Masonry Home, Cottage, Chicken Coop or Other Special Structure.

This comprehensive workshop will take participants through all aspects of cordwood house building, including:

• Building a rubble and trench foundation
• Cutting and preparing cord wood logs
• Concrete work
• Window and door prep
• Lectures and materials for you to take home for your own cordwood construction project

The workshop will be led by builder/craftsman Rick Nation. Rick brings years of experience building cordwood homes and structures, including Willie Nelson’s beautiful cordwood home.

Slapdash Farm is the organizer and producer of this workshop. See the Slapdash website for fees and details. Design~Build~Live is assisting with outreach and registration. A portion of your registration fee will go to support the work of DBL.

Register in one of two ways:

1.) Immediately with a credit card via DBL: If you don’t already have a DBL account, you will be asked to create an account. Once you have created an account and are logged in, from the “What would you like to do?” pull down menu select “Current Events”.  Then select the cordwood workshop. Upon registration, an acknowledgment will automatically be emailed to you.

2.) With a check or via PayPal via Slapdash Farm: Complete the online registration form and you will be emailed an invoice for payment via check or PayPal. Please enter “Design~Build~Live” under “Name of person who referred you”.

Introduction to Permaculture

Guest presenter: Kirby Fry, Southern Exposure

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Growing Food in Your Backyard or Small Farm

Guest presenter: Marjory Wildcraft Glowka, Backyard Food Production

Wednesday, August 18, 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Lance Armstrong Foundation, 2201 East 6^th Street, Austin, TX (Map)

Learn how to build a simple rainwater harvesting system using recycled 55-gallon drums. Completed barrels can be linked together to create a larger storage system. Economical parts are readily available and techniques are simple. The goal is economical, chemical-free rainwater your plants will enjoy. A barrel will be completed during the workshop and one lucky raffle ticket holder will take it home.

You will also hear updated information on the newly enhanced rainwater harvesting rebate program for customers of the Austin Water Utility.

Presenting will be Dick Peterson, who served as the Coordinator of the Xeriscape and Rainwater Programs with Austin Water Utility then as Environmental Program Coordinator with the renowned Austin Energy Green Building, where he specialized in residential water conservation and landscaping. Now retired, Dick continues to offer workshops and seminars including Rainwater Harvesting Basics, The Pond/Rainwater Connection, Logical Landscape Solutions, Green Building Basics and the popular Build-A-Barrel Workshop. Through his website, www.DickPeterson.com, he promotes various water conserving techniques as well as promotes his rainwater harvesting and landscape consulting practice.

This presentation is free and open to the public. No reservation required. For more information contact Scott through “Contact Us” or 512-689-1149.

Wednesday, June 16, 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Lance Armstrong Foundation, 2201 East 6^th Street, Austin, TX (Map)

Tired of the consumption-focused rat race? Learn how life based on non-material values, sustainability, friends, family and community can lead to a simpler, richer life.

Voluntary simplicity is a rich path towards leading ‘the good life.’  Philosophical underpinnings are paired with practical applications to decrease the complexity of modern living.  With the goal of a sustainable society, simplicity is key.

Join us for a presentation and discussion of ways in which you can simplify and enrich YOUR life.

Guest Presenter: Nick Moser, The New SHIRE Institute

Nick’s  formal education focused on the intersection of Philosophy and Clinical Psychology in regards to human perception of time.  He finished college and went on to become a Research Assistant at Harvard for Circadian Rhythm research.  His love of building and creating led him to a year of travel and learning natural building. Returning to Texas, he co-founded the New SHIRE Institute and now resides in Manor, Texas, on 100 acres that is the SHIRE Pilot Project and works to provide sustainable solutions to the public.

This presentation is free and open to the public. No reservation required. For more information contact Gayle through “Contact Us” or 512-478-9033.

Natural, Green, Life-Centered Design and Remodeling To Live For!

Featuring author, columnist and eco-architect extraordinaire, Carol Venolia

Three Events – June 17 and 19, 2010, in Austin, Texas

Are your home and landscape in need of some “greening” and improvements to make them more supportive of your health and happiness and more in sync with nature and natural cycles? You will not want to miss these special opportunities to benefit from Carol’s unique and amazing ability to perceive, integrate and communicate human/site/nature relationships into simple to advanced ideas that you can put into action.

Who Should Attend? Anyone who lives or works in a house, owns a house, is remodeling a house, is building or designing a house, selling a house, or wants a greener indoor environment (Homeowners, Architects and Designers, Green Builders and Remodelers, Renters, Realtors)

Thursday, June 17, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, at Texas State Teachers Association, 12th & Lavaca

Natural Remodeling

Any home of any vintage can be made “greener” and more natural. This presentation, lushly illustrated with examples, will help everyone from homeowners to design and building professionals understand how to look to the gifts of Nature for better health, more efficient resource use, and a deeper connection with the living world. Book signing follows.

Admission – $30 in advance, $35 at the door, $15 for students, $50 for both presentations, $65 for this presentation + workshop, $85 for all 3 events.

Registration information below.

Saturday, June 19, 10:30 am – 12:30 pm, at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Southwest Parkway

Life-Centered Design

We human beings have spent millions of years co-evolving with natural cycles of daylight and night, sound and silence, color, aroma, texture, and rhythm. In our modern lives, we can choose to benefit from this rich biological heritage by making fully informed—and science-based—decisions that support our sanity, our health, and community. Learn how to create living spaces that tap into our human strengths and our human story. Book signing follows.

Admission – $30 in advance, $35 at the door, $15 for students, $50 for both presentations, $65 for this presentation + workshop, $85 for all 3 events.

Registration information below.

Saturday, June 19, 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm, South Austin Residence

Natural Remodeling Workshop

Green and natural remodeling principles can and should be applied to a real not-so-green houses and sites. Learn how to evaluate an existing house and site for its gifts and challenges in relation to sun, wind, water, landscape, and neighborhood; clarify a set of priorities and strategies; and allow life-supporting design responses to emerge from that process. Book signing follows.

Prerequisite – Attendance at Thursday’s “Natural Remodeling” presentation or familiarity with Carol’s book, Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House

Admission – $45, $65 for 1 presentation + this workshop, $85 for all 3 events. Advance registration required. Limited to 30 participants.

REGISTRATION INFORMATION- PLEASE READ!!!

DBL members will automatically receive a 10% discount on all events prior to checkout. (YOU MUST BE LOGGED IN TO YOUR ACCOUNT)

- If you already have a DBL account, log in, and select “Current Events” from the “What would you like to do?” pull down menu.
- If you don’t have a DBL account, you can create one (it’s free and without strings attached). Then log into your new account and proceed as above by selecting “Current Events”.

An acknowledgment will be emailed to you automatically upon registration.

>>TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE<<

Carol Venolia is an architect with a 40-year track record in ecological design and a passion for restoring the connections between humans and the rest of life. Her latest book, Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House (with Kelly Lerner), is a beautiful, practical guide to bringing existing homes into harmony with nature. She also pens the “Design for Life” column in Natural Home Magazine, is the author of the acclaimed book Healing Environments: Your Guide to Indoor Well-Being, and once published Building with Nature Newsletter.

All proceeds from these Austin events will support the educational efforts of Design~Build~Live. Thanks to our sponsors:

A Design~Build~Live Monthly Presentation – Free and Open to the Public

Wednesday, May 19, 2010, 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Lance Armstrong Foundation, 2201 East 6^th Street, Austin, TX (Map)

We are pleased to have the opportunity to present a group of professional builders from the Instituto Tierra y Cal (Institute of Earth and Lime) in San Miguel de Allende, México. They will talk about the wonderful work they are doing in Mexico, Haiti and beyond, creating natural homes and community buildings in some very impoverish and devastated areas.

The good folks at Instituto Tierra y Cal(CYT) work extensively with compressed earth blocks (CEB), which are adobe-like blocks made by applying high pressure to slightly damp earth of various composition. The resulting blocks can immediately be placed into the wall, creating natural, durable, beautiful, high-mass bearing walls. CYT will also talk about the lovely earth and lime plasters they use to finish the CEB walls.

See the post below for the CEB and natural plaster workshop that CYT will be conducting in San Antonio starting May 20. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity for those wishing to learn about some viable natural construction alternatives for both residential and commercial projects.

This presentation is free and open to the public. No reservation required. For more information contact Gayle through “Contact Us” or 512-478-9033.

A huge thanks to AECT for sponsoring this presentation!

www.AECTCEB.com

Saturday, May 22, 2010, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (rescheduled from March 27)

Instructors: Kirby Fry, Southern Exposure and Gayle Borst, Stewardship, Inc.

Location: North Central Austin, Texas

Fee: $75 ($67.50 for DBL Partners) – Register HERE; Limited spaces

Experience Level: Beginner to Intermediate

For those seeking a more sustainable solution for foundations, high-embodied energy concrete can be minimized or even eliminated through use of a rubble trench foundation. This low-impact technique, used extensively by Frank Lloyd Wright, uses rock (rubble) to support the building above.

During this hands-on workshop we will construct the foundation for a small cob cottage and will cover all the steps required to complete a rubble trench foundation, including:

• Importance of dealing with water flows around a foundation
• How to lay out and set the batter boards for the building
• Materials selection and sources
• Construction of the rubble trench
• Forming up the bond beam on top of the rubble trench

The project is the first step in the construction of a small cob cottage behind the Rosedale home of owners Mina Loomis and Robert Norris.

The instructor, Kirby Fry, has over 15 years of experience as a building contractor, including several natural building projects.  Kirby studied Natural Resource Conservation at Texas A & M University, served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Guatemala, and is a Permaculture designer, teacher and builder.

Assisting Kirby will be Austin architect and DBL Director, Gayle Borst, who constructed a rubble trench foundation for a studio behind her own home several years ago.

Fee for the workshop is $75 for non-members and $67.50 for DBL Partners. (If you are not already a Partner, join now and receive the discounted workshop price.) Included are a healthy vegetarian lunch and all necessary workshop materials and tools. Water, tea and snacks will also be provided. Enrollment is limited to twenty people. For questions contact Gayle at 512-478-9033.

Registration closes at 8:00 pm on Friday, May 21. Please call Gayle if registering on 5/21/10.

Registration required. To register, click HERE. If you don’t already have a DBL account, you will be asked to create an account. Once you have created an account and are logged in, select “Current Events” from the “What would you like to do?” pull down menu. An acknowledgment will be emailed to you automatically upon registration, along with the project address.

May 8-15, 2010, Dripping Springs, TX

Join us for a week of natural building construction and education in the rolling hills of the Texas Hill Country. The workshop will cover cob construction from start to finish including: siting, design, budgeting, foundation, wall construction, windows/doors, swimming hole selection, roof, plasters, arches, niches and relief sculpture. Families welcome!

Instructors: Kindra Welch & John Curry, www.ClaySandStraw.com; Sara Schmidt, and guest instructors

Cost (includes camping and all meals):

•Early Bird registration (paid in full before 4/17): Adult tuition, $700; Second adult family member $450

•Regular registration (after 4/17): Adult tuition, $800; Second adult family member $500

•Kids 4 and under: Free; Kids 5-12: $150; Young Adults 13-18 with parent: $350

The workshop will begin at 1:00 pm on May 8 and conclude at 2:00 pm on May 15. For more information, please contact Kindra or John.

Registration required. TO REGISTER, click HERE. If you don’t already have a DBL account, you will be asked to create an account. Once you have created an account and are logged in, select “Current Events” from the “What would you like to do?” pull down menu. An acknowledgment will be emailed to you automatically upon registration.

Saturday, April 17, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Volunteer Opportunity to Help Prepare an Urbanite Foundation for a Cob Caterpillar Bench

April 30 will be Brentwood Elementary’s annual Earth Day Celebration.  A day long event will include music, environmental booths and projects, and will be attended by all 465 K-5 students, teachers and staff and parents.  Many of our own DBL family have been involved in past years and also will be participating this year.  Jenny Nazak has trained parents to run a solar oven event, Frank Meyers band “Mr. Pancake” plays environmental songs during lunch where the whole school sits under the canopy of a huge oak.  Linda Anderson, also the resident art teacher, will sponsor a cob bench /sculpture project with the help of cob experts from DBL.

Brentwood is a Recognized Green School, with a Styrofoam- and plastic- free lunch line, composting lunch waste into school gardens and hosting an after school Environmental club, multiple classroom gardens, a Garden Club, and twelve newly planted fruit trees planted by Tree Folks.

Volunteers are needed!  On April 17 we will be creating the urbanite foundation on site.  We need someone with a truck to deliver the urbanite and some extra strong bodies to build the foundation. April 30 is the creation date and a few volunteers are needed to help out with the kids. Later in the summer there will be a plastering event.  Please email Linda Anderson if you would like to participate in this event!

April 23 – 25, 2010 (Friday, Saturday & Sunday)

Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez Street, Austin, TX 78701

On Saturday and Sunday, from 11:30 – 1:00, Design~Build~Live will be hosting several roundtable discussions, a new feature at this year’s Green Living Expo. Discussions will center around these important sustainable topics:

• Natural wall systems – Cob, Strawbale, Cordwood and more – Led by Ken McKenzie
  
• Sustainable water management – Rainwater, greywater, ponds – Led by Michele Hallahan
  
• Home energy efficiency - Ways to conserve energy in your home – Led by Effie Brunson
  
• Edible landscaping – Creating landscapes that look good and taste good too – Led by Kirby Fry

This is a great opportunity to talk directly with some of our “pros” about sustainable topics of interest to you. Grab some lunch at Concessions and join us at the Tables Reserved for DBL’s Educational Round Table Discussions.  Each topic will be discussed for approximately 20 minutes (discussion leaders will rotate tables):

Wednesday, April 21, 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Lance Armstrong Foundation, 2201 East 6^th Street, Austin, TX (Map)

Nature has been ‘treating’ water and wastewater for millions of years.  This presentation will discuss the various ways the ecological tools of Nature can assist in remediating ponds/ wetlands/ lakes and other bodies of water more swiftly and economically than ‘traditional’ engineering approaches.

Our presenter will be Michele Hallahan of Eco-Logic. Michele’s extensive experience in the environmental arena include a position as Environmental Specialist at the University of Texas, work with internationally renowned ecological designer Dr. John Todd and his Living Machine^TM technology, and contract work with the environmental certification group Green Seal. Michele is also a DBL board member.

This presentation is free and open to the public. No reservation required. For more information contact Gayle through “Contact Us” or 512-478-9033.