A $50,000 storm-resistant home will soon be on offer in the Hurricane Sandy-ravaged Rockaways.

The winning design from an American Institute of Architects and Architecture for Humanity competition, sponsored by Dow Building Solutions and organized by the Make It Right charity, was dubbed Resilient House — a modern twist on the Rockaways’ classic bungalows. Crowned with a split roof that creates rows of windows that brighten and warm the home year-round, the home requires almost no heating and cooling, according to Toronto-based architects Sustainable, who designed the home on commission from the charity.

“Even if the power goes out, the house remains livable,” Sustainable’s Craig Rice told the New York Daily News.

The St. Bernard Project, a New Orleans-based organization that built hundreds of homes in the South after disasters and dozens in New York following Hurricane Sandy, will join forces with Friends of the Rockaways to choose the family to get the home. The team will also raise money for additional homes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTC_X1gblRE

watch the full video here:http://permaculturenews.org/2014/01/0...

By Ecofilms

“That view behind me is not a painted backdrop!” said Geoff Lawton to the camera. But the view looked great from where I was standing. Brooklyn Grange is a rooftop farm with a magnificent view looking over the Manhattan skyline.

Sitting on a concrete roof, totaling 2.5 acres and producing more than 50,000 pounds of organically-grown vegetables each year, you need to walk its length to appreciate how vast this rooftop garden truly is in scale.

We had been given one hour to film this place. The sun was setting. We were in the “magic hour” to film and needed to hurry. There was a lot to do.

Geoff walked down the narrow lanes of planted vegetables. Four to six inches of dirt was all the plants were allowed to grow in—very well drained dirt that resembled sharp river sand. It didn’t look like a normal loamy soil to my untrained eye.