hi Everyone
        South Coast Permaculture Guild and our sister guilds, Hopedance Mag  and many cosponsors are bringing this great slide show  to Ojai, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo and workshop to Santa Barbara. Please look at description of the half day workshop Setting up an Natural Building Network in your Region on Sat Nov 11 1-6 Pm at the CEC Gildea Resource Center below, Gary Duncan will share how to be involved with helping build a network. Check out Smartshelter Webpage at www.smartshelter .com

        A quote below from an article to appear in Hopedance Mag in Nov/Dec 200 from Gary Duncan

"Of all the purchases we make in a life-time, the buildings we live and work in pack the largest environmental wallop we finance as consumers. They are responsible for the loss of old-growth forests. They are heated and lit with electricity...the number one contributor world-wide to global climate change. 30% of these  harbor toxins sufficient to produce environmental illness in their dwellers.(according to the EPA and World Health Organization)                                                            
There are a couple of beacons of hope on the horizon. Some of them are delightful surprises, which is often characteristic of profound solutions to perplexing problems......."


GARY DUNCAN FROM SMARTSHELTER NETWORK
SLIDE SHOW AND TALK ON THE CENTRAL COAST CA

Nov 8: Wed Ojai...7pm Happy Valley School Auditorium, contact Dave White,
Ojai Permaculture Guild, 805-646-9809 artdetour@mac.com.
Nov 9: Thursday Santa Barbara.. 7:00pm at the Santa Barbara Public
Library Main Branch Downtown, Faulkner Gallery, donation $3, Santa Barbara Permaculture Network and other cosponsors  contact 962-2571
or sbpcnet@silcom.com.
Nov. 10: Friday San Luis Obispo... 7pm at the Community Room at the SLO Library
co-sponsored by HopeDance (544-9663), Sustainable Building Council, CC Permaculture Guild
and the Canaries of the Central Coast, Future Electric


strawbale building, passive solar design, adobe, cob,
pressed earth, earthships, environmental illness, electromagnetic fields,
Feng Shui, water catchment, biological waste water treatment, remodeling,
solar electric, solar hot water, pressed block, permaculture, green houses,
green building, finance, insurance, Russian Stoves, timber frame, green
power....and more. Plus a special look at Environmental Illness for those
affected by sensitivities or allergies caused by buildings, toxic
indoor air quality problems, cleaning products, furnishings, perfumes, etc.

Setting Up a Natural Building Network in your Region, a half day workshop given by Gary Duncan, Saturday, November 11. 1PM- 6PM Links builders, architects, lenders, real estate & insurance agents, county building officials, individual natural home owners to exchange info on natural & green building methods. The workshop takes as a model the Smartshelter Network in Colorado and is tailored to our local region, The network provides advocacy in order to compete with the non-renewable toxic and environmentally destructive aspects of conventional building.

Sat workshop will be in four parts: an overview of the natural building network, history, intent, funding and functions. Session #2 will go into detail with the functions(40 of them)including case studies, advocacy, task forces, video production, outreach, etc.. Session #3-forming a natural building network for coastal southern California-can you do it and how. Session #4- one hour slide show on natural building techniques geared for builders/ architects-state of the art working systems and design. Extensive documentation will be included with the workshop including samples of Smart Shelter forms, documents and reports (to work as starter samples for your area)

At the CEC Gildea Resource Center 930 Miramonte Dr Santa Barbara.
Cost/$60 For more info & registration call SBPN 805/962-2571, email sbpcnet@silcom.com.


Smart Shelter Network
Positive Solutions with Natural Building Introduction by Margie Bushman from an Article to appear in Hopedance Mag in Nov/ Dec

Last April South Coast Permaculture Guild did a presentation on Earthships as a part of our monthly meeting at the Community Environmental Center in Santa Barbara.  In the audience was Gary Duncan, from Smart Shelter Network in southwestern Colorado, and we were lucky enough to spend time with him before he left Santa Barbara and learn of his immense knowledge of natural building and alternative building design.

Strawbale, cob, and adobe.  We've all heard about them, maybe even dreamed of building and owning one, but what exactly is involved in building one of these non- conventional structures?  Since they have been around for so long, why don't we see more of them built? 

Gary Duncan had many of these same questions and a curiosity to learn more.  He began Smart Shelter Network as a result of an illness caused from years of working with toxic building materials.  He had also observed how many alternative building structures were being built in his area of southwestern Colorado, and dreamed of forming a network, to share and exchange knowledge.  This network would not only share information on how to build, but what was involved in financing, insuring and permitting these structures.  This wonderful vision became a reality and now the network provides advocacy and education to code officials, bankers, material suppliers, the media and public.  It is composed of members who form tasks forces dealing with specific issues such as water catchement, ferro cement, strawbale, bamboo, pressed earth block and more.


Gary Duncan began Smart Shelter Network as a result of two things. After 35 years in the building trade he experienced an illness caused from years of working with toxic building materials. He had also observed how many alternative building structures were being built in his area, and dreamed of forming a network, to share and exchange knowledge, not only on how to build, but what was involved in permitting, financing, and insurance. He will share some of the experiences in an upcoming lecture and slide show with over 3000 slides of documented case studies he has collected over the last six years, and later a half day work shop, both to be held in Santa Barbara in Nov .


*************************************