Seed Eco-Home 2 Preorder Form

How it Works

This form is used to pre-qualify potential buyers of the Seed Eco-Home 2 by Open Source Ecology (OSE)/Open Building Institute (OBI). This is a unique opportunity to obtain an expandable, 1000 square foot starter home at the lowest possible cost. All our plans are on line for free - so if you download our designs and blueprints, you don't need to buy anything from OSE. But if you are interested in a house kit or a turnkey house build - we can offer you this service. If you are interested, please read this introduction - and if you qualify - fill our our pre-order form. There is a $20 charge for form processing, which is applied towards your purchase. Before you fill out our pre-order form - make sure you read the following and understand all of our options. This will help you to determine if you qualify for the turnkey build - or make you aware of other options so that you can negotiate the best solution for you that provides you with an affordable, expandable, high quality home. This way, you can avoid debt and reduce your financial burden - and thus be a happier person all together as we help you negotiate the single largest expense in one's life: housing.

OSE is providing 3 services that will will allow you to access additional support - up to a turnkey house build. However, in all cases - you need to get your own buildable land parcel - as we are helping you to build your home. You simply hire OSE for the additional services or for a turnkey build.

There are 3 main options here:

1. 14 Day Builder Crash Course - $2100 early bird offer for build training where you participate in a complete build.
2. Drop-Shipped Seed Eco-Home 2 House Kit - $10k service fee + materials + any outsourced contractors, BYOL (Bring Your Own Land)
3. Turnkey Build of the Seed Eco-Home - $50k service fee + materials, BYOL

FAQ

Current Model

1. Is it legal to build your own house, or do you need to hire licensed professionals or contractors to build a house for you? It is legal. You need to follow 5 requirements: have a buildable lot, zoning must allow you to build a house, local ordinances must allow you to build in the particular way you choose, and you must follow building codes for soundness and safety of the home. Also note that none of this applies, or is not enforced - in some locations that do not have or enforce any building codes - see map at Counties Without Building Codes. In fact there is over 100 counties where 'building what you want without asking anyone' is actually allowed. However, if the question is deciding to build your own house, legality is not the only question. Another question is - are you qualified to do so and to do so safely? If you are not qualified, we can train you. If you don't think you can do so safely, we can teach you safety. In short, if you would like to build your own house, there is nothing stopping you - though to do so responsibly, you have to possess or acquire a skill set. And this skill set is not prohibitively difficult. You can also hire out some work to licensed professionals or contractors. There are cases where a fully built and functioning house requires zero contact with the outside world. That would be an off-grid situation where building codes do not apply - or special building types such as barns or utility buildings for which no approval may be needed. But if there is a public grid involved - water, sewer, internet, power, gas - involvement of the utility is required as you are not allowed to tap into public infrastructure by yourself.
2. Do you offer an off-grid option? For the Seed Eco-Home, we already have the off-grid option on gas/electric with solar panels - and the absence of gas appliances in favor of more efficient electric induction cooktop, on-demand electric water heaters, and heat pump. We are working on grey and black water reclamation as well, so that the house is completely autonomous and pollution-free, and we expect to offer these as standard options within the next 3 years.
3. What special ecological features do you offer? We offer PV, superefficient applances (refrigerator, heat pump, on-demand water heater, induction cooktop), eco-friendly polished concrete floors, water-saving devices, and a standard bidet option. We plan to apply for Living Building Challenge Certification with the Rosebud model.

Future Work

1. Do you offer an autonomous house option? We are offering an aquaponic greenhouse option for food production. We are developing a closed loop water system with water catchment and recycling. We are developing an open source microfactory option for 3D printing and other productive work so that the house is all together a net producer of energy, food, water, and products - while being zero carbon and socially conscious.

1. Explain the legal concepts of licensed professionals, contractors, and the role I can take if I am neither? First, let's start with what an owner-builder means. It means that you will live in the house that is built. But the 'builder' part does not mean that you have to build everything yourself. You can be an 'armchair builder' - who hires out all the work. As an owner-builder, you can choose to do any amount of work yourself - from zero to everything - outside of certain ta
2. What are the economics of building myself vs hiring others?
3. Is there any part of the Seed Eco-Home that a novice builder cannot learn? In general, we provide full training that allows anyone to learn the full build. Our value proposition is to simplify by design - for ease of build, speed of build, ease of sourcing materials, build safety, and low maintenance once finished. Difficulty is inversely proportional to the amount of documentation and guidance - and OSE provides full and complete guidance - which improves as the project evolves due to its open source nature and continued developement with feedback from the community. So if you are willing to learn, we can teach you. We certainly do not believe that average individuals cannot learn to design and build like a pro - that is part of the myth of technology that we are dismantling by making technology transparent and accessible.
4. Is there any part of the Seed Eco-Home that an owner-builder cannot perform on their own for legal reasons? There may be jurisdictions where legal requirements do not allow owner-builders to do certain work and must hire a professional, such as for electrical, plumbing, or heat pump. There are jurisdictions where no such restrictions are in place. For the electrical, plumbing systems, heat pump, and photovoltaics - we can teach owner-builders the necessary skills if they choose to do the work themselves and their jurisdiction allows it.
5. I really want to build my own house, but I just don't think I have the skills to learn everything in only 14 days of your Seed Eco-Home crash course. We went to great lengths to simplify the construction process - the simplest possible plumbing system, the simplest possible electrical - all in a modular construction system of panels that facilitates access and makes repair easy. As such, we believe that anyone can learn in 14 days - without prior construction experience. We even claim that if someone never used a power tool in their life, they can walk out of the course knowing how to build a full house. How? Because for anyone who is not confident that they can build a house after the course - we are offering free tuition($1890+ value) to take the repeat course - as many times as they like! And furthermore - if there are any parts of the build that the owner builder does not want to or cannot do on their own - such as the foundation - that can be hired out easily - as the owner-builder will understand the process and do an effective job hiring a pro or a friend. It's all about enabling an effective build, and enabling the owner-building to secure additional help if necessary by providing an immersive education that covers both practice and theory.
6. Is it safe to build your own Seed Eco-Home as an owner-builder? It's largely up to you - what safety procedures you follow, how seriously you take the issue, and how well-informed you are about potential risks. There are about 11M constructio workers in the US [1], and about 1000 construction deaths occur annually [2]. Fall protection, scaffolding, ladders, and machinery guarding are 4 top causes related to construction. In the Seed Eco-Home build, we use a flat roof so roof fall risk is minimized. There is a way to avoid fall-related risks almost competely if one chooses a one story model of the Seed Eco-Home. For power tools, one must have body awareness and blade guards must be in working order. The general idea is that if one is comfortable using power tools and has body awareness, the risk of injury is low.
7. Are you allowed to do your own electrical work? The legality of do-it-yourself electrical work varies from state to state, and from one municipality to another. Always call your local permit office for the answer that pertains to you. One scenario found in many communities is that you can legally do your own electrical work as long as you can attest to being the owner-occupant and that this work is being done for your benefit, not commercially. [3] Note also that there are actually dozens of counties that don't have or enforce building codes - https://pangeabuilders.com/pockets-of-freedom/
8. Are you allowed to do your own plumbing? Yes, there are no codes.