Backers Feedback

To Be Addressed

Martin Stalnaker -

Hi Marcin, I'm primarily interested in DIY building and energy efficiency techniques. I'm located in the Houston area which has many days with high humidity and a heat index over 100 degrees. Air conditioning is a must. I saw very little/no info on your site about cooling and energy efficiency, which I think is important for a large portion of the southern US. I was in MO last week and I know it's an issue for you too during the summer.

I am in my mid 50's and am preparing for old age. I want to design and build a home I can live in that requires as little maintenance as possible. So while solar and wind electrical generation is admirable and something I would be interested in if I was in my 20's, $.08 per kWh with zero maintenance, repair and replacement headaches seems like the path of least resistance at a reasonable cost.

So I guess my suggestion to make your message appeal to a wider audience would be to offer more "mainstream" building techniques and alternatives. You could also reduce the number of reward offerings. Is was a bit overwhelming.

Best wishes, Martin Stalnaker

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Mark Moisette -

Hi Marcin,

Glad to be able to support such a fantastic project, spent a few hours yesterday looking over all the details provided here and on your site as well, very inspiring (to say the least)! I have been following OpenSourceEcology /the GVCS from afar for years, and this is fantastic!

Sorry in advance if anything I say has been said before, or if I missed something already included in the Kickstarter presentation /text or your site

The text is clear enough, despite the huge scope of the project, not much that could be improved except for these minor points perhaps: - some of the graphics are hard to read (blurry) like the '2 year roadmap' - missing link in the following text : 'Modular home addition, built in September 2014 (click for more info)' - perhaps add some graphs simplifying some of the more text heavy parts (turnkey, workshop types, etc) - a graph/grid/spreadsheet sorting the rewards by type would be hepful : 'physical rewards that can be sent anywhere' vs construction workshops vs webinars (there are a lot of them, so a bit hard to keep track when they are only organised by cost: I just realised there was a bigger webinar package that I missed)

Just a few random thoughts on rewards: - even if for a few Pledge levels it is made clear that they 'SHIPS TO: Anywhere in the world', if you can it would be good to clarify that some (workshops, 'build sessions') are US only/ local, or at the users cost to get there. Might be trivial, but I was trying to find a clear list of rewards accessible in Europe as well. - Workshops: this is also a bit related to the above, but is not something I believe you can do much about: I would have loved to participate in some of your other workshops (Diehard Package, CEB, heck, almost any of them) , but living in Europe, that does not seem possible at this stage. Do you think it would more will be put into place at some stage ? (There is a German OpenSourceEcology group, but they do not seem to be as developed as your 'HQ' just yet) - I know a few people (me included) who would sign up & pay without hesitation if these workshops were available nearby : I have been looking for these kinds of 'hand on' + open source & pratical means of learning how to build the tools and the end results in a collaborative manner for years!

I have been experimenting with combining 3d printing, wood working, aquaponics, automation and open source for years, but having the possibility of doing this with other people, in a much more intensive manner would be dream come true !

Media and communication : not sure I can help much on this: perhaps blogs & sites dealing with tiny/ off grid living, perhaps also on http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/ . I'll also ask around at work (Open source 3d printing company), they might know a few outlets.

In all cases , please keep up the great work, I hope the Kickstarter and OBI itself will be a big success !

Mark