Ferid Abbasher is a Sudanese-Serbian architect who obtained his qualification at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. He owns the architectural office of Ferid Abbasher and Associates. Since 1992 his office has been dedicated to reducing energy demands in housing, as a key factor in creating healthy, productive, and safe building environments. Economic measures such as occupant productivity and satisfaction, along with reduced repair, maintenance, and management costs are key factors. Nowadays, Ferid Abbasher and Associates have subsidiary offices in Europe and Africa, with “green” designers and professionals from several countries who contribute in knowledge, experience and goodwill. Their headquarters is currently located in the northern province of Vojvodina, Serbia and Montenegro. Ferid likes to spend a lot of time in nature, speaks English, French, Arabic, Dutch, Japanese, Serbian and Slovene, and has long experience in CAD and 3D modeling under the Linux operative system. Plans available include: Earth-sheltered Passive Home, Earth-sheltered Atrium, Earth-sheltered Active Home, Solar Hybrid Home.

Sven Erik Alstrom was raised in Kansas City and graduated from the University of Kansas in 1975. Mr. Alstrom is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) and is a licensed architect in California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, and New Mexico. After moving to Denver in 1981 to work on the Tabor Center project with Urban Design Group, Mr. Alstrom relocated to Aspen in 1988 and founded Alstrom Group P.C. in 1992. In September 1999 the business name was changed to ECOLOGICAL ARCHITECTURE to renew his emphasis on environmentally based design solutions. Current projects are in Marble, CO; Snowmass Village, CO; Mammoth Lakes, CA; Lawrence,KS; and near Banner Elk, North Carolina. Plans available include: Santa Fe I, Santa Fe III, Santa Fe IV, Great Plains, Great Plains II.

Paul Breaux, a physicist, engineer, and solar energy design consultant, is a frequent presenter at renewable energy conferences. He also periodically teaches solar design classes at the University of Texas. He consults mainly for people in the Texas region who are interested in passive and active solar house design, with an emphasis on cooling strategies. Chez Soleil is Paul's personal home, and he is kind enough to share his design and insights with others.

Katje Erickson of Delta Third Design has 20 years experience in design-build, virtual 3D drafting and illustration. Growing up among Montana/Alberta lumberjacks, builders, and master stone and timber craftsmen became a life-long education, furthered with her studies in architecture, and landscape architecture. Katje designs in a multitude of alternative materials, adapting her plans to the passive solar siting behaviour and energy calculations, included on all custom work. Stewardship is about how we live, where we live, in nature. Katje works from New Mexico, and often travels to job sites in the region. She has a collection of wonderful, alternative doghouse designs available here. These are links to her designs: Doghouses

Kelly Hart is your host here at dreamgreenhomes.com, and also at www.greenhomebuilding.com . He has been involved with green building concepts for much of his life. Kelly spent many years as a professional remodeler, during which time he became acquainted with many of the pitfalls of conventional construction. He has also worked in various fields of communication media, including still photography, cinematography, animation (he has a patent for a process for making animated films), video production and now website development. One of the more recent video programs that he produced is A Sampler of Alternative Homes: Approaching Sustainable Architecture, which explores a whole range of building concepts that are earth friendly. Kelly is knowledgeable about both simple design concepts and more complex technological aspects of home building that enhance sustainable living. He has even designed and built a solar-electric car that he drives around his neighborhood. Kelly, and his wife Rosana, live in an earthbag/papercrete home that they built and chronicled in the video Building with Bags: How We Made Our Experimental Earthbag/Papercrete House. Plans that Kelly has designed include: Baggins' Burrow, Carriage House, Baca Hybrid, Sacred Mountains .

Dennis Nelson is a Designer in the Pacific Northwest involved in projects spread all over the US and other parts of our world. Some of his design specialties include timber frames, Structural Insulated Panels or (SIP's), and other ‘green methods' for building construction. Currently, Dennis is working to develop his home and private resort in a rain forest of Costa Rica . The resort structures will utilize ‘eco friendly' components in addition to other energy saving variables that will promote ‘pure living' and green building techniques while not interrupting ‘flora & fauna'. One of Dennis' strongest attributes in addition to his CAD capabilities, are his ability to convert plans, ideas, sketches, etc. into workable drawings for SIP manufacturing, fabrication, installation or construction. While providing rapid turn around for custom applications, Dennis has the ability to grasp alternative construction methods providing contractors & future custom home owners with the materials they need for a successful project. Costa Rica Bed & Breakfast, Cape Cod Island, Modern Santa Fe, Wilderness Retreat, MILA/Garage, Garage/Shop, Two Man Hut.

Joe Prudden is a licensed architect since 1990 and founded ARK-OLOGY in 2001. His company focuses on architectural design and ecological principles as one integrated process. He believes that all families need and deserve good design and that home is an extension of who we are and how we live. Interactions between people, sun, and climate can be enhanced by environmentally responsible design and development that responds to the dynamic forces of nature; ecologically sensitive design creates places of great user satisfaction while respecting the web of life. He is passionate about designing the house that fits you and doing this in a responsible way. Joe is actively involved in several environmental organizations and volunteers time with several charities. He lives in Utah. Links to Joe's plans: Desert Barn, Desert Organic Design, Mining Barn, Solar Chalet, Tree House.

Walt Quade is a licensed, bonded contractor in the state of Oregon. He has worked full time in the construction industry in Oregon since 1992. In 2002 Walt designed and built Green Home Oregon, an earth-sheltered and earth-bermed passive solar home that has functioned very well for him and his family. He has also designed a small (350 sq.ft.) house that is factory built, and delivered on-site complete in the Pacific Northwest US. It is designed to be totally self-sufficient with off grid solar pv cells, cistern rain harvesting system, gray water disposal system, composting toilet, high R value insulation and all built with renewable/green materials. Another venture is the manufacturing of tear-drop trailers. He is available for consulting.

Michael Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture has been developing a self-sufficient building constructed with the use of recycled materials for the past 35 years. The result of this evolutionary process he calls Earthships. The Earthship heats and cools itself, produces its own power and water, treats its own sewage and is built using used automobile tires, cardboard and discarded cans and bottles. Michael has build most of these Earthship near his company headquarters in Taos, New Mexico, however he has traveled all over the world lecturing as well as building Earthships abroad. The floorplan linked here is for a Packaged Earthship, the type of Earthship that has proven to be the most popular, economical and easiest to build for owner/builders. Plans that Michael has designed include: Packaged Earthship.

Touson Saryon of Integral Design Studio found a passion for architecture during his youth in a small country town outside of Boston, MA. Through education at both Syracuse University School of Architecture and University of Massachussets Dept. of Landscape Architecture, he was able to develop a balanced design approach of both interior and exterior spaces.  Learning was extended in a private 2 year internship with an ecological architect in Northern Califorina where he gained extensive knowledge of sustainable design principles and materials. During 8 years living in Crestone, CO, Touson designed and built a passive solar family home and grew his design practice. A few homes have been recently featured in The New Strawbale Book and The Small Strawbale. Touson now resides in Mount Shasta, CA with his wife and 2 children and continues to design in both Colorado and California. Plans that Touson has designed include: Cozy Strawbale, Kozy Kasa, Strawbale Solar Abode, Casa del Sol, Eco Nest 1200, Strawbale Cottage, Eco Family 1600, Eco Family 1900, Strawbale Retreat, Bale Cabin, Western View, Bale Courtyard, and Eco Ranch.

Timbo Scursso was born in Connecticut in 1975.  As a young boy, he helped his father build and remodel several residential homes.  He also taught himself how to design and draw through the use of Computer Aided Drafting.  His passion for designing and building brought him to Wentworth Institute of Technology and then on to Virginia Polytechnic Institute of Technology where he studied architecture for three years.  Concerned about how conventional architecture was lacking environmental and social responsibility, Timbo switched his studies to an ecology based education.  He graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Natural Resources. Educated and experienced in design, construction, and the environment, Timbo's natural progression was to combine all those skills as a natural designer and builder.  He has been involved with the natural building movement since 2000. See Meadowlark , Studio/Home.

Paul Shippee is director of Colorado Sunworks and is a solar designer and builder. He was the founding President of the Colorado Solar Energy Association, and a teacher. Paul holds a degree in Civil Engineering, with a major in Structural Engineering from the University of Connecticut. He helped plan housing experiments in energy conservation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and designed the best-rated energy conservation home in a HUD-sponsored study. He holds a U.S. patent on a solar water heating system. Paul is currently building a rammed-earth/strawbale home that he has designed as a personal residence in Colorado. Here are links for Paul's plans: Starboard Solar House, SunEarth House, Sunstar, Sunworks Solar Greenhouse

Jason Whitfield is a planner, ecologist and builder of ‘green’ houses and communities. He got his degrees in Environmental Studies and Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Waterloo. Currently, Jason is working to develop 300 acres of urban land just north of Calgary, Alberta. The subdivision and dwellings will emphasize passive solar design and will be built around a linear trail/park system. The prefabricated straw wall panels or SIPs can be modified to almost any floor plan and are shipped across Canada and the USA. Jason is currently building a show home in Didsbury, Alberta, the fourth structure to use the straw bale SIPs. Other projects have included installing an energy monitoring system in an ecovillage to record energy consumption and to provide control functions to optimize the shared energy systems (e.g. wood boiler). Here is a link to one of his designs: Straw Bale SIP