September 18

The day started off chilly, and warmed up into a beautiful sunny afternoon. We had a large and energetic work crew out. Several visitors also helped out (Ross from CEU, Brenda-Dale from Regina, Mark from Winnipeg).

Work crew assembling for the day.

Removing the form work once the concrete has dried.

Brenda-Dale getting the corner piece of the form work out.

Removing more of the form work.

The base of the grade beam, showing how the straw sits underneath the concrete (below the sleepers). As mentioned previously, over time this will decompose and create a space below the grade beam.

The crew installs rigid insulation on the exterior of the foundation. A few inches of vapour barrier extend below the insulation to ensure moisture travels away from the base of the wall panels and into the ground.

The start of a trench for the earth tubes. These non-perforated tubes will be buried below the ground, bringing air from outside the GreenShed to the inside. This will provide cooling in the summer, and ensure that air within the GreenShed ventilates properly out of the top windows on the north wall.

Mark and Ross hard at work bringing gravel over to back fill around the insulation to keep it in place.