A family in Norway decided to build a sustainable home built from all natural materials and then surround their living environment with a glass geodesic dome. Benjamin and Ingrid Hertefolger moved their family of four children to the northern Norway island of Sandhorney which is located right in the Arctic Circle.
The Hertefolger’s wanted to follow their hearts which is why they even went so far as to change their name. Hertefolger means “heart follower” in Norwegian. Their house is made of clay, sand and straw and the glass dome that surrounds it has 360 glass panels supported by recycled aluminum framework that will last for 100 years without any maintenance at all.
Their home only took three weeks to build but cost them $490,000 to do it all told. Because it is located so far north, the structures and the living conditions had to sustain them through the brutality of an arctic winter. The dome acts as a greenhouse for their vegetable gardens as well as reduces the ultra violet radiation prevalent in the arctic and works at keeping their environment at a constant comfortable temperature in addition to being able to withstand the mountains of snow that falls up there in the winter.
They grow all of their own food and all of their waste is recycled into water for irrigation and for fertilizer and compost. And, of course, the dome supplies them with all of the solar power they need to survive and thrive.
“We built what we wanted to build,” said Ingrid. “We only listened to ourselves and what we wanted to do. It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. I believe that the recipe for failure is trying to make everybody happy because it’s not possible.”
They want to give their children a memorable childhood and to teach them how important it is to live within nature and to help Earth sustain itself. There are no computers or shopping malls or television. For them, its all about nature and all about themselves and their sense of oneness as a family.
PHOTO CREDITS: The Hertefloger’s