If you don’t know about it already, check out Dwell magazine.
They also have an online forum for people building their own houses – click on the Dwell Connect box on the far right bottom side of their site. (www.dwell.com) Through their site I have found many blogs of people who are doing what you want to do.
Dwell is mostly concerned with the prefab market, but there is a lot of good info and resources there for you. You can pick up Dwell at Whole Foods.
And, Whole Foods has a lot of other good magazines about this subject matter, but I just don’t know their names. It’s definitely worth stopping in to browse what they have.
Relatedly, the whole genre is growing, and if you check out No Impact Man’s blog (a fav of mine) you will find all kinds of links to eco-living and sustainability. http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/
Let us know what you find. I’m very interested in this too.
My aunt and uncle built their own house in Australia, and are trying to live off the grid. It’s very hard. Oz is in a drought, and water’s very scarce. Despite having a dam at the bottom of their property, and collecting all the rain they can, they still have to ration. I have tons of stories about their lifestyle. If you want to email me, I can send you their contact info, and you can go straight to the horse’s mouth. lindismith at hotmail – put piggington in your subject line, so I know you’re not junkmail.