Metateps

It's interesting that regardless of their professed reasons for going off-grid, most off-gridders choose the land that their homes will sit on based on a simple factor: convenience. How close is the nearest Wal-Mart? The nearest hospital? The nearest school or university? People who profess to be off-gridders and yet make their decisions based primarily on such conveniences are, in a sense, still hopelessly attached to the grid.

The other factors off-gridders look for in their search for the perfect building site include:

Good solar access, with south-facing slopes for passive heating and earth sheltering. Part of the land needs to have a good slope angle for backing the shelter into the slope (called "earth sheltering").

Unobstructed access to the wind.

Dry, well-drained land with stable soils, but land with a good water supply.

Favorable climate for year-round comfort and microclimate, along with good topsails conducive to growing food and providing shade and wind protection.

On-site building resources (trees, rocks, sand, clay, etc.).

No (or minimal) legal obstructions to off-grid development.

Good views.

No pollution.

The basic steps in putting your site together consist of finding the site, making a map of it, deciding on a house design and making detailed plans, and, finally, construction (or purchase) of the shelter.

There are, of course, millions of people who would like a break on their utility bills, and who can, with some help, turn what they already have into an off-grid home. Most people simply can't afford to run out and buy a piece of land, hire an architect and construction team to design and slap down an off-grid dream house, and live happily ever after. Let's be a little more realistic than that. We can start small by taking some conservation measures that will reduce our utility bills, and then work our way up from there.

Shelter requirements could be determined by distinguishing the basic venues available for off-grid living.

The first is the transient venue, consisting of lifestyles centered around mobile habitations (e.g., RVs), transient homes (tents, hogans, huts), and habitations that have less than a 250-square-foot footprint.

The second is the intermittent venue, which includes seasonally or permanently inhabited fixed or mobile habitations (cabins, larger motor homes, and trailers) that have a footprint between 250 and 750 square feet.

The third is the permanent venue, which includes fixed habitations with a footprint of more than 750 square feet. These are the homes of America's middle and upper economic classes.

Before we get into the details of shelter in the three venues, let's take time to examine passive solar design. A knowledge of the principles of passive solar design can be used to make inexpensive improvements even in homes that weren't designed to take advantage of solar energy.