Green Collar Jobs Training Program Update (7/23/09)

The weather for today was predicted to be cloudy with a high chance of showers, due to the bad weather off the south east end of Hawai‘i Island. However, if you lived here for some time, you probably realized that the weather can turn on a dime and it could be sunny one minute and raining heavily 5 minutes later. Luckily, for the Green Collar Jobs Training Program this means we experienced a very hot and clear, sunny day on Hawai‘i Island. The weather turned out for the best because the offline sustainability trainees headed down to Nanawale to put more time and effort in the Mark Hansen's sustainable, affordable, and modern Earthship.

Trainee's refined their Earthship skills and knowledge by again mixing the special concrete mix and packing it into the white bags that will help the mix retain the specific shape needed for the wall structure. The trainees are pretty excited that they are working on a building concept that is not really well known because it gives them a skill not too many people and hopefully will help them stand out when they are looking for jobs in the future. The trainees are also are hoping to raise awareness of this greener, sustainable home option.

Back in the office, the online sustainability group continued work on server maintainence, the Hawai‘i Sustainable Buisiness Directory, and starting to put closure to the summer 2009 Green Collar Jobs Training Program blogs.

Green Collar Jobs Training Program Update (7/14/09)

Today, the Green Collar Jobs Training Program did more work on Mark Hansen's Earthship home. There they continued to mix the mixture of cement, cinder, and dirt to make the wall foundation, very similar to what they did yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Green Collar Jobs Training Program online trainees continued to document and promote the training program and its efforts on the Internet.

Trainees helping mark build the earthship walls.

One of the first people to foremen of the Earthship design is Mike Reynolds the found of Earthship Biotecture. His design began sometime in the 1970s when we wanted to create a sustainable home that would do all of the following:

1. It would be made out of recycled and indigenous materials, whenever possible.
2. It would rely on natural energy sources and be off the grid.
3. It would be economically feasible for the average person and would required no specialized constructions skills to build.

This design has become very popular in the last decade and there is even a housing development in Taos, New Mexico that is entirely composed of earthship homes. It's inahbitants live with a strong sense of sustainability. They produce most of their energy (solar panels, etc.), harvest their own water, treat their own sewage, manufacture bio-diesel, and grow majority of their own food. Because their homes and buildings are earthships they also recycle and utilized much of the "trash" that other communities throw out.

Inside one of the Earthship huts.

In 2004, the first eartship was built in Europe. It was built by volunteers of the SCI charity and opened in Kinghorn Loch in Fife, Scotland.

There are many advantages, as well as disadvanages to having an earthship home, but overall it's an amazing concept that supports the push for global sustainability. Everything is a learning process, so you can be sure that in the years to come, earthship designs will become even more advanced and efficient in reducing the human footprint.

Green Collar Jobs Training Program Update (7/13/09)

Today the Green Collar Jobs Training Program offline trainees did another change up and headed back down to Nanawale to work on Mark Hansen's earthship again. Construction progress is going really well with most of the wall foundation up and the windows in. Mark is already starting to fill in the crevices with the mix of cinder, dirt, and cement.

Mark Hansen filling the crevices of the wall with a mix of cement, dirt, and cinder.

Meanwhile, workers continued to pack the white bags with the cement mix and stack them upon the previous laid bags laced with barbed wire for added support.

Trainees working on the earthship walls.

Just to re-emphasize earthship are affordable, sustainable home options. They are made of locally found materials, and are strong enough to withstand hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and pesky termites. Although they may not look the most esthetically pleasing they save a lot of energy, and in most cases can designed to meet the owners want and needs. They will also outlast the life a normal home, making it appealing to those who want to keep their homes for generations to come. Again the site to look up more information about earthships is www.earthship.org.

The online workers continued to work on blogging, and are waiting to be updated on the status of client work. Trainees are also working on compiling the accomplishments of the program into a format that will be easily understood and attractive to individuals and business that might want to support this training program in the future.

Green Collar Jobs Training Program Update (6/30/09)

Great news! The work that the Green Collar Jobs Training Program trainees did helped Mark Hansen pass the inspection for the Earthship building permit. Today, the workers are back in Nanawale to continue work on the sustainable home. Brent Norris also went down to the site to document the work and brought back these great pictures of the Green Collar Jobs Training Program in action.

Workers (from left) Dylan, Dominic, Leroy and Sandy
take a moment to smile before helping Mark with his Earthship.

Workers packing a mix of cement, dirt, and cinder
into white bags to form the wall foundation.

The finished Earthship structure will look like the building behind the workers. It almost looks like a tropical igloo. Earthships can also vary in appearance depending on the wants and needs of the individual owner.

Back in the office, the online workers continued working on promoting the program. Trainees also made work site signs to promote our workers out in the field. If you see the "Green Job Worksite" signs around feel free to stop by, ask questions, and get involved! You can also check out the daily updated websites, blogs, images, and videos!

Green Collar Jobs Training Program Update (6/23/09)

Today the offline crew traveled back to Nanawale to continue work on Mark's Earthship. Trainees learned how to create a mixture of dirt, cinder, and cement to form a wall foundation that will be placed around the framework of the sustainable home. The concrete mixture was placed into white bags and placed on top of each other. Barbwire was also placed between these bags to add for increased support.

At the same time, the online crew continued work on the web. They shared information, discussed the Hawaii Sustainable Business Directory, wrote blogs, and edited videos. However, the day came to an early end because the Internet server went down.

Lessons and Tips of the Day:

1. Patients is a virtue!
2. Earthships are a sustainable, reliable, and affordable option.
   

Earthship

An Earthship is a type of home construction made of natural and recycled materials such as cinder, dirt, and tires. The advantages of this type of construction is that it utilizes available local resources and also naturally regulates indoor temperatures. Windows allow for light and heat, but thick outer walls allow for an effective insulation from intense summer heat. Variable constructions can also provide natural ventilation systems. In general Earthships are "off-the-grid" constructions and reduce the need for fossil fuels. However, the main reason why this concept is becoming an increasingly popular sustainable option is that it is economically feasible and doesn't take a lot of skill to create. More importantly, the design of and Earthship allows it to withstand hurricanes, earthquakes, termites, and water damage. Many will outlast regular homes! So instead of investing in a home that will only last a generation before demanding to be renovated or rebuilt, invest in an Earthship that will lasts the generations of an entire family. If you're interested and want to learn more, check this site out: www.earthship.org!

Green Collar jobs Training Program Update (6/22/09)

At the beginning of Week 2 the online trainees assessed their progress on the web. Using the Google Analytics program, it was found that visits to the Green Collar Technologies website were up and on average viewers were spending more time on the site. This might suggest that people are becoming more interested about green collar jobs, sustainable options, and opportunities here on Hawai‘i Island. This is also one of the intentions of the online crew's efforts. However, there is room for improvement and that only comes with more experience on the Internet.

Outside of the office, the offline crew gained knowledge, skill and experience with building Earthships. In the picture below, workers (from left) Dominic, Sandy, Dylan, and Leroy take a moment to smile before working with Tom Hansen. Tom is the owner of this Earthship that is located in the Nanawale sub-division of the Puna district.

Tom Hansen and the Green Collar Jobs Training Program trainees.