Building Off the Grid

Builder Matteo Lundgren creates custom cob houses using natural materials such as clay, sand, straw, and water.

Peter and Ashley Jensen build a sustainable straw-bale panel house in New York's Hudson Valley -- the first of its kind in the United States; with only three months to work, they race to finish before winter sets in.

A Montana carpenter has big plans to build a unique pontoon houseboat so he can live on Flathead Lake year-round; as both a builder and artist, he has the skills to turn his vision into a reality but an early winter threatens the whole project.

A mother-and-son team pulls up stakes in Orange County, Calif., to build an off-grid family commune outside Keaau, Hawaii; with the help of a skilled AirCrete instructor, the duo overcomes a learning curve to make their dreams come true.