Building a “natural” house
Since he was spending large amounts of time working in his vegetable patch, Ho decided to build a hut to rest in. He then thought that as long as he was building a hut, he might as well learn something about construction.
The summer heat, winter cold, humidity and saltiness of the air at the shore, and pollution from passing traffic, were challenging issues, but also spurred his imagination.
Ho decided to go with a vaulted structure, a form described by the quadratic functions kids learn in middle-school math. Shaped something like an igloo, the home was designed to withstand typhoons ranging up to force 17 on the extended Beaufort scale and earthquakes measuring up to intensity 8.
The temperature was near 40°C on the day we visited, and a line of people waited impatiently to get inside DoGoodHouse. The secret of the energy-saving home’s warmth in winter and coolness in summer can be found in middle-school physics.
First of all, the home isn’t built from reinforced concrete, but rather recycled sandy soil, which is a good insulator. It also has openings for ventilation both low and high. The lower vents are on the southwestern side of the home to draw in the prevailing summer winds, which are cooled by their passage across the turf outside. The upper vents expel hot air, keeping the interior comfortable in the summer. There are no vents on the northeastern side of the home, which helps keep out the prevailing winter winds.
Ho built up the home’s curves by layering material, and then covered the walls in a porous water-based nanometer coating. He says that this enables the building to “breathe,” allowing hot air and moisture to pass freely in and out. Finally, he painted the exterior with a photocatalyst that naturally breaks down oils and animal waste, which has kept the home looking as good as new for the 12 years since it was built.
Ho has no formal training in the arts, but he has managed to craft eye-catching items from trash, including this cat clock and turtle-shell lamp.