SMASHED SIDEWALKS BEING TURNED INTO NEW HOUSES

SMASHED SIDEWALKS BEING TURNED INTO NEW HOUSES

PHILO, Calif. (Wireless Flash) – Folks are building houses out of a lot more than wood these days. That’s according to the author of a new “how-to-do-it” guide to building homes with wood alternatives, Building With Vision (Watershed Media). Researcher Dan Imhoff says some builders are using old sections of sidewalks as walls, while others recycle old license plates into shingles. There’s also rising interest in something called “compressed soil blocks” which are basically big hunks of dirt used to construct walls. Imhoff – who lives in a 2000-square-foot-home made from recycled materials – admits it takes more time and money to make a house without wood, but says it’s worth it for the environment since the typical wooden house uses up more than an acre of trees.

Wed 10-31-01