A couple years ago Jordan Palmeri of Portland, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality conducted a study that showed that building small is the single best building strategy for energy and resource efficiency. Over the past year a group of us have been working to create a forum to share information about the benefits, strategies, and challenges of building small.
I’d like to cordially invite you to the upcoming Build Small | Live Large Housing Summit on October 26th in Portland. Additional information is available here: http://living-future.org/cascadia/buildsmall. I will be presenting in the Biggie Smalls: The Notorious Tiny House session with Dee Williams of Portland Alternative Dwellings and Derin Williams of Urban Nest NW. We would love to see familiar faces in the crowd!
The 2012 Build Small | Live Large Housing Summit will gather leaders in the development, real estate, building, and design sector from across the bioregion for an intensive day of inspiration, project case studies, and peer-to-peer learning. Industry professionals will see innovative designs and learn about the financial success stories emerging across our area.
Could you please give more then 4 days notice next time?
I can’t go but please….someone…..bring to the forefront about what great options these are for people with MCS….Multiple Chemical Sensitivity….they are small enough to be able to make super green and individualized according to what affects a person…be it paints & varnishes, propane, drywalls, electricity, types of wood….etc. these little houses are also a great option for elderly….a small loft could be for company or storage.
I’m planning on building one, I have MCS…mine won’t have paints, varnishes, cedar, propane, drywall or plastics for piping etc…..people who build it can’t smoke or use chemicals on their person that give off scent…I.e. scented laundry products or perfumes or cologne….this is serious stuff for people like me. I also would have my bed on the main floor and not in a loft.
Many people I have emailed have said that they could do it as green as I want but they are cost prohibitive, I would like to start some kind of grant program or a program with various companies to help build these houses for MCS sufferers. MCS sufferers often do not have insurance and/or substantial incomes.
Please, please bring this to the attention of the professionals at this conference, maybe someone has an idea or connection so we can move forward with helping people live a better life.
Thank-you,
Victoria Mayhue
I also have MCS but am getting better due to Ashoka Gupta’s program. If you want to talk about it or see the program email me. I am in Portland too. I can do things now I could not do or go 6 months ago.
Hi Victoria, have you talked to Jim Wilkins of Tiny Green Cabins about this project? He specializes in the kind of tiny house that you’re talking about here. He’s helping me build a mobile sauna cabin and has been great about pointing out considerations for those with chemical sensitivities. http://tinygreencabins.com/
At age 38, my partner, wife and best friend (now somewhere a bit of 60) was diagnosed with acute multiple chemical sensitivities. We became the people in the bubble to keep her safe and living a less painful life. Our present 750sqft home has been remodeled by my son and I with a few gassing office, petroleum based products as possible. While she still ventures out for a few days at a time, sanctuary is the multi-filtered, scentless, hypoallergenic home we have. We have followed Tiny blogs for several years with the hopes of finding a builder who has not only built small and green, but discusses/describes materials and ideas for building for the chemically sensitive….for those not familiar with the increasingly diagnosed disorder, think every known allergy in the world ON STEROIDS. Therapy, medications, OTCs, all get tried at some time, but simply avoiding the thousands of chemical exposures each of us contacts every day is the best alternative to living in a painful huddle all day. Please include any news for these folks in future Tiny Blog forums. Thanks for bringing it up. gus
will have completed my tiny house by the end of next week! i’m in NC…hopefully i can attend the conference next year with some of the money i’ll save living small…or maybe help host an east coast version??
This was in my email box on the 27th of October:( Big fail). I live only an hour from the summit site. Disappointed. Is there a place that will have a review of the event?
It was on the blog early in the week and I just learned of it before I published it. Check the blog often if you want to keep up with what is going on. I have not seen a review yet of what happened but will post it when I do.
Wow, I would have loved to attend this conference—what a great program! Does anyone know of any similar upcoming events?
Just got the notice today, Oct. 27. A daughter and son-in-law live close enough to Portland to have come to the conference had anyone known about it. My husband and I live in Cincinnati, OH. We want to downsize our expenses; these tiny homes look so cozy. I am definitely interested in finding out as much as I can about how to materialize the dream of living “large” in a small space, could I find a place to put the house! — Carol B.