The First Two Weeks

I must be honest--I had a little bit of trouble coming up with my goals for the first two weeks of my project.

I want to get started with designing the house right away, but first, I realized that I should probably know how to draw blueprints by hand first...so I'll be practicing that skill. My plan for the first week (March 1-7) is to draw a practice house-complete with two floors, a living room, kitchen, bathroom, two bedrooms, one other miscellaneous room, and whatever else I decide to add to it.

The goal for the second week (March 8-14) is to figure out and draw the structure for my real house. I won't be focusing on what materials to use yet, just the basic layout of the house. And if need be, I will add in how the heating, water, and energy systems fit into this model. I am currently not sure as to whether or not I have to do that...but I will surely post an update about it!

Here is a more precise layout of how I will spend my time over the next two weeks:
Sun 3/1: 70 min. how to research drawing blueprints
Mon 3/2: 45 min. in class. 20 min. journal
Tues 3/3: 60 min. Begin drawing blueprints for practice house
Wed 3/4: 60 min. continue drawing house. Research as needed
Thurs 3/5: 60 min. drawing/research. 20 min. journal
Fri 3/6:  30 min. research/draw. 30 min. meeting with Ms. Zaryski
Sat 3/7: 60 min. 25 min. journal entry

Sun 3/8-Sat. 3/14. I'll probably have the same time frame. I will update my plan for next week in my Saturday journal entry.

These plans might be subject to change, especially the second week. Hopefully I will be exited tomorrow and can officially get to work!

Hello World!

Dear Reader,

This is my very first blog post ever! And I'm so excited it gets to be about my upcoming WISE Project.
As my title suggests, I am designing a sustainable home that I could potentially live in someday. Ever since I stumbled upon an article about why these buildings called earthships are so awesome, I've wanted to build one myself. They are basically little biospheres. They collect rain water and filter it for all uses in the home (thus not requiring any water from other sources), they use a geothermal heating system, and the energy used is part solar and part wind. Also, they're built out of tires, cans, and dirt, making them very insulated and recycled.
I want my house to incorporate these aspects. However, I don't want to build an exact replica of the general earthship model. I want to create a house using aspects from other sustainable home ideas, like earth sheltered homes, the tiny house movement, and others.

I have always felt passionate about overcoming environmental issues. This is the primary world issue I'm drawn to. Though I also like living a comfortable lifestyle with the luxuries of heating, plumbing, quality furniture, decor, and electricity. I want to give back to the earth in some way, and I believe designing this house is the first step to reaching that goal. Saying this, I also plan to review my daily routine and come up with ways to make that more "green".

In order to successfully complete this project, I need to figure out the model for my house, learn how to draw blueprints, learn how to use SketchUp (an online 3D design program), and of course, become better at managing my time. The last reason is actually one of the primary reasons I took this course. And what better way to practice this than designing my future home? :D
I am fearful, however, that I won't self discipline myself enough and end up scrambling towards the end. I am not quite sure yet how to divide up the first two weeks of my project, but that will be my next blog post, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading!