11 Aug The Green Home Project: Part One

Most Americans continue to believe that green homes make a difference but feel they need to be more affordable. Some have looked into alternative “greener” housing such as storage containers, yurts and smaller homes like Tiny Texas Houses located in Luling, Texas.  Here’s where The Red Buffalo Guild Club comes in. The Red Buffalo Guild wants to show that building a green home doesn’t have to be expensive.

The Red Buffalo Guild are founded by a group (about 10 friends) of college students that attend Texas A&M and Texas State University.  Their club is based in New Braunfels.  The group consists of musical, arts, architectural, and other various backgrounds. Meet a couple of the members that I spoke with: Nicole Stipanovich who is the “inspiring architect” heading this project and Patrick Heath Redding one of the club members also involved in this project.

Their aim is to build a home completely made out of free and recycled materials. What does that mean?  Free as in donated materials, no monetary donations to buy materials. Free as in their voluntary man hours in collections, planning and building. Recycled materials in which can be reused (still structurally sound materials) for building and furnishing of the home.

What are their goals?  One: They are trying to prove how easy, practical, and creative you can be in building a home from recycled materials for the average American.  Two: Build an affordable, self-sufficient home. 

What else will make this home eco-friendly?  They want to keep it “off the grid” as much as possible by installing solar panels and establishing a rainwater collection system. 

They are also in talks with Tiny Texas Houses (www.tinytexashouses.com) in developing a workshop and/or booklet in helping the average person build their own eco-friendly home.  Tiny Texas Houses currently makes homes with the concept they call “Pure Salvage Building.” That means that everything used in the building of a home has been saved and re-used to create houses.  Check out Tiny Texas Houses unique creations!

Interested in helping? They need wood, metal, beams, paint (eco-friendly if possible), windows, etc.  Have any of those materials? Donate them.  Remember, their building materials must be in good condition—structurally sound. They are trying to build a strong, sustainable home. They also are looking for storage space and property to possibly rent in the New Braunfels area to build their home.  Ideally, they are looking for an acre lot. 

After visiting with Nicole and Patrick about their club’s project, their enthusiasm is so contagious!  It took me back to my childhood when the neighborhood kids all got together to build a clubhouse.  We went around the neighborhood collecting all sorts of things. And we did it!  We built our clubhouse and it stayed up all summer long.  Obviously, this building project is much more important than a kid’s clubhouse. I can’t imagine how much fun they will experience in building their green home and the satisfaction they will receive from their accomplishment.

Contact Red Buffalo Guild at redbuffaloguild@yahoo.com with any questions or if you want to donate anything towards their building project.

Let’s support their mission.  Let’s support innovation. Ultimately, let’s support affordable, eco-friendly housing.