Studio West Design: Building Design Perth Hills and Country WA

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Training Courses

Owner-builders - Prepare Simple Working Drawings for Shire Approval (with Sharon Ponsford, Environmental Designer)
Learn step-by-step from an industry professional how to hand-draw your own high quality working drawings for council approval. Learn the common reasons why your plans will be rejected by the shire and how to make sure your plans are approved the first time. Give your drawings the professional touch with tips & tricks from an expert. This course is a must for anybody who wishes to learn how to prepare their own high-quality hand drawings for council approval.
Note: The course does not include engineers structural drawings, which must always be prepared by a certified structural engineer.

Where: Studio West Design Studio, Gidgegannup
Date: November 2010, TBA. Please contact us to register your interest.

Google Sketchup Introduction with Sharon Ponsford, Environmental Designer
Are you finding it difficult to learn by yourself from the online tutorials? Then this course is for you. Learn the basics to get you started drawing in 3D with the latest version of Google Sketchup. (Available free from Google)

Where: Studio West Design Studio, Gidgegannup
Date: This course will be scheduled on demand. Please contact us to register your interest.

NEW!
5-Day Workshop "Building Your Own Wind Turbine"

March 2011 Gidgegannup, Western Australia.

Presented by Studio West Design, renowned environmentalists Jim and Miriam from Eirbyte Renewable Energy in Ireland show you how to build your own 2.4m wind turbine using only basic tools. This is a marvellous opportunity for Western Austrralia to have presenters of this calibre here to deliver such an exciting hands-on workshop.

Register your interest
Email us using the contact page to register your interest and be notified when enrolments open. This course is strictly limited to a maximum of 15 places only and will fill up quickly.

See Jim and Mirams' website at www.eirbyte.com

Learn more about the wind turbine workshops at http://www.buildyourownwindturbine.com/

On the workshop we build one wind turbine to a design by Hugh Piggott of Scoraigwind.

The turbines come in six different sizes of blade diameter.

Turbine diameter mm	1200	1800	2400	3000	3600	4200
Mean wind speed 3 m/s	5 kWh	12 kWh	22 kWh	34 kWh	49 kWh	67 kWh
Mean wind speed 4 m/s	14 kWh	30 kWh	54 kWh	85 kWh	122 kWh	166 kWh
Mean wind speed 5 m/s	23 kWh	53 kWh	93 kWh	146 kWh	210 kWh	286 kWh
Mean wind speed 6 m/s	33 kWh	74 kWh	131 kWh	205 kWh	296 kWh	402 kWh
Mean wind speed 7 m/s	41 kWh	92 kWh	164 kWh	256 kWh	369 kWh	502 kWh

Estimated monthly energy production at different mean windspeeds in meters per second.

Making a wind turbine is not as difficult as you might have imagined. These turbines are designed to be built using fairly basic tools & equipment and the skills needed are taught on the workshop. All toos are supplied during the workshop so there is no need to bring your own tools unless you wish to.

The blades are hand carved from wood to a precise aerodynamic design (not as hard as it sounds).
The alternator is made from Neodymium magnets and enamelled copper wire encased in resin.
And the frame that holds it all together is made from welded steel.

Each day, a modest amount of theoretical introduction will lead to workshop sessions with opportunities to gain hands-on experience of carving wooden blades, winding coils and fitting magnets into purpose built alternators, wiring, fabrication and all aspects which can be covered as time allows.

Also visit Hugh's website and learn as much as you can.

Saturday October 3rd 2009
"The Sustainable Home - Design, Siting, Building"

We all had a fantastic day with Irish architect and eco-sheltermaker Peter Cowman of http://www.livingarchitecturecentre.com/

Gidgegannup, WA

Participants learned the secrets of sustainable house design & construction with a special emphasis on creating affordable homes. During the lunch break we were all treated to a surprise rammed earth wall building demonstration by local rammed earth builder Jens Jacobsen of Rammed Earth Alternatives.

Topics included:

Turning your dreams into reality
Avoiding the dreaded mortgage
Designing a new house
Extending & renovating an existing house
Creating a healthy environment
Passive Solar Design
Materials & Construction
Producing Food & Fuel
Owner-building
Alternative energy
Heating & Cooling
Living your architecture
Econspace framing - low cost sustainable owner-building

I am looking forward to holding the next workshop, it was a great day for everyone.

Sunday October 4th 2009 - Stone Age Farming Practical Workshop

with Alanna Moore (author of Backyard Poultry - Naturally, available from http://www.geomantica.com/poultry.htm)
Wooroloo, WA (private property)

This was another fantastic day, we all discovered a world of subtle energies with Alanna Moore, Australias most well known earth energy diviner/geomancer, permaculture farmer & writer and international speaker/tutor.

Topics included:

Divining & enhancing the feng shui of landscape
Energy analysis by pendulum dowsing
Applying dowsing to improving plant growth, including soil testing and the application of crushed paramagnetic rock,
stone arrangements and crystals.
Permaculture design that incorporates geomantic principles, for harmonious, sustainable and productive environments.
"Tower of Power" building for enhanced plant growth, a paramagnetic antenna originally inspired by the Irish Round Tower.

Extracts from Alanna's films were screened and special stone pendulums, DVD films and books were available on the weekend.
Alanna's website is www.geomantica.com

Further inquiries about the workshops contact Sharon at Studio West Design.

Australia-wide Events

Geomantica has these and other training events scheduled Australia-wide.

For details of all Australia-wide events see http://www.geomantica.com/geoevents.htm

Geomantica promotes dowsing & geomancy, earth mysteries & energies, esoteric agriculture, building biology and Earthcare in Australasia and beyond.

The free on-line Geomantica # 41, Feb. 2009 magazine is out now! Articles on Serpent Mounds, Permaculture, Electro-Magnetic Radiation Control, new films and more! http://www.geomantica.com/

Newsflash

Build Your Own Wind Turbine March 2011, Gidgegannup WA learn how to build your own wind turbine. International experts Jim and Miriam from Eirbyte Technologies in Ireland www.eirbyte.com will be here in Gidgegannup for a fantastic 5-day workshop teaching everything you need to know to build your own wind turbine and it really works! Enrolments will be strictly limited to 15 participants so don't miss this exciting opportunity. See the Training page for more information and Contact Studio West Design to register your interest and be notified when enrolments open.

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Sustainable Living Bookstore

Sustainable Insight is an Australian online bookstore specialising in sustainability and environmental books, DVDs and educational resources. Their range covers topics including permaculture gardening, agriculture, owner-building and sustainable building methods, mud-brick, straw bale and more, environmental management, organics and sustainability. Just click on the logo to find out more.