When searching for a place to live out our dreams and mission we had a LONG list of things to consider. Much of our list focused on biological and geological factors such as climate, water, topography and plant cover. What really got us excited though was learning that many counties in Southern Missouri that we had honed in on do not have building codes...
This meant we could express our freedom and autonomy as humans able to create shelter from natural materials.
Building codes are standards and regulations that make buildings fit into a narrow acceptable range. In many cases this ensures that safe electrical wiring, plumbing, fire safety and structural integrity standards are upheld. I'm not here to knock building codes as they can save lives.
BUT.... Industrialized society clings to rigid ideas of what a building is and these codes greatly limit human potential to build using natural materials, which oftentimes are less expensive, take less told on the environment, and are better suited to local climate.
We are living out a part of our natural human heritage by building our own structures using local materials.
Solar Shed west facing wall where we did Slip Straw for a bit of insulation with clay plaster.
Our freedom has been infringed upon through decades of colonialism, capitalistic norms and socially constructed ideas of homogeneity. We are not a "one size fits all" species, and the thought that every one has the same set of needs and characteristics is harmful.
What does this have to do with building codes?
It has everything to do with building codes! If we are a society are not open to change or entertain novel or unique ideas, we are stifling the individual and collective freedom to shift and evolve, learn and grow.
Building codes are a product of bureaucracy and unfortunately influenced by the corporations making the products that the codes require!
We are forced into a very narrow range of acceptable methods and techniques of construction.
Building codes are broad strokes that inhibit many communities, families and individuals from expressing their freedom.
We did not want to succumb to the rigid enforcement of standards that we don't believe in.
We also didn't want to make the money needed to pay strangers to tell the other strangers they should stamp a document that allows us to build something. We're not professional builders, nor will we ever be. We aren't planning on building houses for others, but it is paramount that we have freedom to choose from a variety of healthy, local, conscious, and sound natural building practices.
We want to be autonomous and creative in meeting our needs for shelter.
At least in the USA and Canada (where I have lived) building codes are updated every so often and often outdated codes are found to be downright damaging.
By years of sealing a house in with two layers of plastic, we have finally learned that making a house too airtight can cause air quality and mold issues. Certain chemicals within building products are found to be poisonous or damaging. Some of the same corporations manufacturing toxic chemicals are also building products that codes insist are used in homes.
From plastic house-wraps, to vinyl siding and harmful VOCs in paints and adhesive products, we are tied to an unhealthy supply stream. All this is not even to mention the ecological implications of homogenous solutions applied across the board and the exorbitant overuse of concrete. What an ecological nightmare!
In the most appropriate manner we know how, we are choosing to live a life of freedom where we can slowly and organically meet our structural needs from the land around us.
We have a rich ancestry of natural building and it's only been a hundred years or so that we decided to focus on low skilled labor and mass production.
This shift was in part due to the massive infrastructure needs after the great fires in Chicago of 1871 that destroyed an estimated 17,500 buildings that needed to be rebuilt. What we think of conventional stick framed buildings using 2"x4" (now actually 1.5" x 3.5") was in part due to this event that required a lot of low skilled laborers to rebuild quickly.
Fast forward to today where we:
- Relegate the act of building to a slew of experts,
- Give the inhabitants having little to no say in the design or layout of the home,
- Necessitate the involvement of banks due to high cost,
- Hope for a lifespan of 40 years (that's how long houses in the USA today are built to hold up for!)
This doesn't even touch upon unhealthy environments these structure create and the need to replace components over time.
Nope, doesn't sound like a good plan for us.
We didn't have any interest in a septic system, nor did we want an architect to sign off on our building plans.
Damned if we were going to sign a mortgage (from the Old French meaning dead pledge) and pad the pockets of bankers so that we could participate in an unhealthy mode of building. We wanted to live our life, not pay someone else do do everything for us while we worked crazy hours to fund it all. We saw through that and simply didn't want it! Maybe we're crazy and over idealistic, but the passion we share is real.
We in part chose this life because we want to be a part of our life in the most intimate of ways. By meeting our own needs, we are extricating ourselves from the destructive centralized industrial culture and creating an alternative. In time we hope to share, empower and teach many others to explore for themselves what this freedom could look like for them.
Living without building codes is just one way in which we choose to live out our freedom. How do you like to live out yours?
banner by @radicalunicorn
Written by a passenger of the #EcoTrain. Check out the tag for more inspiring & consciousness raising posts!