Green building workshop

 LWH and Ecohab.org are teaming up May 5-30, 2025 to transform tires, cans, and plastic bottles filled with trash into classrooms for a village near San Juan Comalapa in Guatemala. 30-year green building veteran Phil Basehart will lead instruction.

The Green Building Workshop (GBW) is Long Way Home and Ecohab’s unique 4-week intensive course designed for individuals who wish to dive deep into green-building and design topics, as taught by expert instructors.

GBW participants will learn and build alongside staff and volunteers from all over the world and our experienced local team. Students will live in a green-designed home and will help keep a zero-waste household, an experience that can create life-changing habits.

The program takes place in May and November each year at our site in San Juan Comalapa, a rural town in Guatemala’s highlands. Participants who join the Workshop will contribute to our efforts to make healthy and resilient structures accessible to low-resourced and climate-stressed communities.

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Your Teachers

  • Matt Paneitz

    Raised in Lufkin, TX, he first went to Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer in 2002. At the end of his service, his in-country counterpart, the director of a local NGO, requested help in transforming a five-acre piece of land into a community park. In 2004, Matt filed the non-profit application to start LWH and by February 2005, Parque Chimiyá was underway.

    Prior to starting LWH, he worked in construction and as a 911 Paramedic. In 2013, he earned a Bachelor’s in Sustainability and in 2015 a Masters in Education.

  • Adam Howland

    Adam first came to Guatemala in 2002 as an Appropriate Technology volunteer with the Peace Corps. He joined the LWH team for the development of Parque Chimiyá and has been a cornerstone of the organization ever since.

    He specializes in sustainable building techniques and is extremely resourceful with the local materials that are available to him. Using his expertise, he designs LWH’s campus and off-campus projects.

  • Roberto Perén

    Roberto was born and raised in San Juan Comalapa. He joined the LWH team in 2012 without any construction experience and dove right into learning about green building and its wide array of different resourceful building materials and techniques. Now, he has climbed the ranks to become Construction Team Leader.

    For the 2018 and 2019 Green Building Academies, the project focus was constructing a new home for Roberto and his family.

  • Romeo Apen

    Romeo came to us in February 2009 with years of corn farming experience, but no experience in construction. He is now one of our most experienced green-builders. Romeo sees the economic and environmental benefits of harvesting available materials for construction instead of investing in new materials. He is enthusiastic about teaching others what he has learned and likes working with diverse groups - he has had the opportunity to learn about different cultures through projects in Venezuela, South Africa, and rural Guatemala.

  • Phil Basehart

    Phil completed his Bachelors of Environmental Design at Miami University in 1992 and moved to New Mexico, where he started building his own self-sufficient house. The experience inspired him to become a Licensed Contractor (1999) in order to enable others to build their own self-sufficient housing. Creating architecture that nurtures humans as well as the planet has become his life goal.

    In 1992 he became a team leader and builder for Earthship Biotecture. Over the years Phil has worked on over 150 sustainable homes.

    Phil has been a principal teacher in the classroom and in the field with The Earthship Academy for 11 years teaching others how to build autonomous homes.

Long Way Home Partners with EcoHab!

Long Way Home Partners with EcoHab!

ECOHAB nurtures both people and place.

Ecohab constructs community centers, schools, and homes in partnership with paid local labor and the generous contribution of donated foreign labor. This collaborative approach benefits communities while fostering a sense of unity between locals and international volunteers.

During the GBW we work through many concepts relevant to eco-building and sustainability principles. This April we will be building a classroom for a local school in our community. You will be learning to green-build step-by-step from the foundation up!

Roberto tells us about his eco-house and the impact of the Green Building Academy.

Program details

What else is included apart from Green Building?

  • Onsite orientation to the Hero School campus

  • Cultural tour in Kaqchikel town of Comalapa, Guatemala

  • Purified drinking water

  • Breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Workshop days

  • Kitchen/house essentials (propane, matches, cooking oil, etc.)

  • Clean bedding every two weeks.

Program Expense:

Green Building Workshop Dorm Package $1600 (4 weeks)

Green Building Workshop Private Package $1900 (4 weeks)

1-Week Green Building Workshop Package $450 (per week)

Week One: Site Analysis & Understanding Building with Earth

Week Two: Foundations, Walls & Building with Alternative Materials

Week Three: Earthen Plasters & Roofs

Week Four: Solar System Installation & Water Systems

25% deposit is required to secure a reservation in the Academy.

Citizens of Latin America receive a price reduction, details are below.

Your registration fee contributes to expenses like building materials, salaries of the team you will learn from, and further LWH’s efforts to make resilient housing accessible to low-resourced and climate-stressed communities. Thank you.

Additional Discounts

We want to make the GBW as inclusive as possible. We have personal discounts and group discounts available for our 2024 April and November Sessions.

  • We provide an automatic 50% discount for citizens of Latin America ($800 for the entire program or $250 for a week)

    GROUP DISCOUNT!

    Groups of 3 or more receive $100 off per person!

    Groups of 5 or more receive $200 off per person!

    If you qualify for one of these options or have any questions, please fill out the form below.

    For more information, you can contact our volunteer coordinator.