NORTH AMERICA' S OWNER-BUILDER SCHOOLS

Until recently there were few places where a person could learn the techniques needed to build or remodel his or her own home. Today, however, the rising cost of housing and a public thirst for do-it-yourself skills have spurred the formation of over 30 owner-builder schools across the U.S. and Canada.

The three best-known construction education centers are the Shelter Institute and the Cornerstones School (both located in Maine), and the Owner Builder Center (in Berkeley, California). The Shelter Institute was one of the first such schools to offer home-building classes to inexperienced doityourselfers. (Its 6,000 graduates have built or remodeled about 2,000 dwellings since classes started in 1974.) The Cornerstones School and the Owner Builder Center, however, are now the largest construction schools . . . and offer the most diverse series of programs for people who want to build or remodel their own houses.

The success of these three organizations has led to the establishment and growth of other owner-builder schools across the U.S. and Canada. During the past few years, in fact, new ones have opened in Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and British Columbia.

Almost all of these institutions attempt to explain the design of both conventional and passive solar homes and demonstrate such techniques as balloon-frame and post-andbeam construction. Most programs stress practices that meet local building codes and climatic conditions. In addition, they often include pertinent information on various aspects of home construction . . . such as how to estimate, finance, and contract the work.

Some schools specialize in such varied techniques as historic preservation, rural homesteading, earth-sheltered structures, adobe homes, rammed earth dwellings, geodesic domes, log houses, or timberframe construction. And all of the instructional institutions emphasize the use of energyefficient designs, locally available materials, and owner management of the building or remodeling project. Their instructors usually are (or have been) home builders, architects, designers, remodelers, or contractors.

A variety of summer residency programs, weekday evening classes, and Saturday sessions are offered. Most two- or three-week summer programs are priced at $200 to $600 per person (excluding accommodations), while prices for weekday and Saturday sessions run from $25 to $60 each. And because the challenge of designing and building a house often requires that husbands and wives share the responsibility for many crucial decisions, most schools encourage married "teams" to attend their programs by offering tuition discounts to couples.

Instruction is split between classroom lectures, which include slide talks on house design, and hands-on practice. The classes, which average approximately 35 students each, usually break into smaller groups—ranging from 6 to 20 people—to engage in hands-on activities.