ZAHP! The Zootown Affordable Housing Podcast

Kirsten Matteson has a PHD in structural mechanics. Currently an assistant professor in the department of Civil Engineering at Montana State University in Bozeman, Kirsten is especially interested in materials with potential for positive global change. Among other projects, she has worked together with MSU students to do research on hempcrete as a novel material, looking at its use in structural engineering applications. Kirsten worked on this project in conjunction with Kirby Hancock (listen to S2/E3 of ZAHP) with partial funding from the Montana Farmer’s Union, experimenting with different mixes and incorporating cement to see what yielded the best results in optimizing the strength of hempcrete as a building material. To hear the results and find out more, listen to our interview!

This episode is an interview with Heather Harp, Missoula City Council member and also Executive Director of Habitat for Humanity in Missoula. Habitat for Humanity is a nationwide organization that enables income qualifying families to better afford a new home by contributing 200 hours of their own sweat equity to the process of building it. Heather has some much needed, ambitious goals for Habitat home building in 2021, listen to our conversation to find out more!

Jason Gutzmer is a local builder who constructed an annualized geo-solar home he calls ‘El Nido Solar’ (the Solar Nest), off an alley in the middle of Missoula. He is also a local educator and visual artist/filmmaker/anthropologist with a background spanning 20 years in permaculture design practice across 14 countries. Some projects he has worked on include taking a mobile eco village throughout Latin America, creating an eco village in Montana and working as a green educator in Indonesia. The Solar Nest blends many ways of harvesting the sun's heat, including the geo-solar system designed by Jason.  Wondering what a geo-solar home is? Listen to find out.

In the course of making ZAHP! And also starting my own project, MAP, I have spent a good deal of time investigating viable options for alternative building materials. My favorite one thus far is hempcrete, and for this reason I reached out to Kirby Hancock. Kirby is an architect working with Think Tank Architects of Bozeman, and is also the founder of a company called Transformative Ecologies. Recently Kirby collaborated with the Montana Farmer’s Union and MSU to experiment with Hempcrete, which is what drew me to seek out an interview with him. Hempcrete is a mix of hemp stalks and lime that can be used as a building material. In this conversation we talk about some barriers to the use of hemp building products in our state, from lack of processing facilities to lack of sufficient testing and conventional use. We also cover a few other bonus topics so if you’re interested in alternative materials, don’t miss this interview! https://www.transformativeecologies.com/

Dear Listeners, I hold close to heart the notion that truly affordable/sustainable living is tied into local, regenerative food production.  Paul Wheaton is a widely known permaculture gardener, podcaster, writer, experimenter, and information spreader.  He has authored a book titled:  Building a Better World in Your Backyard - Instead of Being Angry at Badguys.  He is also over 500 episodes into his podcast, called Homesteading and Permaculture, and you can find all the information you desire about Paul Wheaton and his work by visiting his website, permies.com.  Paul owns land outside Missoula area where he conducts experiments with net zero living and ways to do things differently from the conventional norm.  He hosts a variety of learning opportunities on his land that are both short term and/or long term in nature.  Some folks have visited him to learn more and ended up staying to pursue their own adventures/experimentation with growing food sustainably and living more in harmony on the land with Mother Nature.    Paul has been pursuing his passion for permaculture for 20 years now, and we are extremely fortunate in Missoula to have such an amazing resource living so close to our town.