Ampersand presents it's first Sustainable Neighborhood Project! In order to support our local community in sustainable living, we are offering this class at the homestead of Sonya and Mark Benson. This is a chance to learn about the basics of building with earth and also contribute to the building of this off- grid sustainable homestead. September 18, Saturday, 2010 10-11:30  Earth Building mini-class $10 to $15 suggested donation. We will discuss adobe, earthbags, cob , earth plasters and floors. Bring a soil sample to test. 11:30 to 6  Hands on earth plastering on a strawbale house. Learn how Sonya and Mark have been using their local soil to create durable earthen plasters. Bonus! Lunch will be provided by our hosts for those who RSVP by September 6. Mark and Sonya's homestead is off hwy 14, a 45 minute drive from Albuquerque.  The directions are posted below. There is also an opportunity to volunteer on the next day, Sunday the 19th. Volunteers are welcome to camp. Please contact us beforehand. About Mark and Sonya's Sustainable Homestead: "We have built everything ourselves with valuable help from friends and family and a couple of community projects; only hiring out pouring the foundation, most of the plumbing and some of the electrical. All of the exterior walls are strawbale and we plastered them from a clay dirt and straw combination that we dug from our land. The final coat on the house and studio have sand added and to protect the plaster from water we applied one coat of linseed oil. The interior walls are under the process of an earthen clay application, with a lime plaster used in the showers. Our roof is metal to best use a rain catchment system that will be next year's project. All of our electricity comes from a roof-mounted p.v. system and our hot water is heated in a tankless system that uses minimal fuel. We've also plumbed in pipes under the floor's foundation and another set of pipes that run to the roof in order to install flat plates that will heat fluid for a radiant heating system which will have no other fuel than the sun's power, using the floor as storage. In the meantime we use a wood burning stove in the winter that warms the whole house, with the help from our passive solar S.W. orientation and large windows on the south side. We minimized our windows in all other directions and added skylites for more light. All of our windows are doublepaned and all except the south have a glaze for better insulation. In the houses attic we blew in a recycled paper insulation with a R factor of 45. For the studio's ceiling installation we used recycled denim rolls. Our utility sink, bathroom sinks and clotheswasher (hp) are plumbed to a grey water system that we catch and water our garden and trees with. Currently our landscaping is at a minimum as we are waiting for our rain catchment system and inspiration before creating a backyard that will be xeriscaped, usable and beautiful. Ceiling fans have been installed for cooling, but aren't needed because of the thick insulation and cool night air that breezes through our home with cross ventilation. Our drier is a clothes line, kitchen cabinets from FSC certified wood and countertops made of a recycled paper product called Paperstone. Much of our furniture, light fixtures, building materials, sinks etc have been purchased at Habitat for Humanity. Our 1500 square foot home is still in the process as we build with the flow that money, work, life and our nearly two year old allow." Directions: We are approximately 45 minutes from Albuquerque: take I-40 East and Exit on the "Turquoise Trail"/"Cedar Crest" exit. Head North on the Turquoise Trail aka hwy 14. After 14.5 miles, turn left or west on Puertocito Road, which is unpaved. Check your odometer and stay on the main road for 4.5 miles. Turn right at the gate where two earthen plastered buildings are: 4731 Puertocito Road. That's us! The road is county maintained and passable with any car (except for sport car tires). But if there's a downpour of rain and some aren't comfortable driving, we can do a pick-up at the head of the road.