Lawyer by day, farmer by night, one TikToker is bringing back bartering to help build the barndominium — a barn converted into an open, condominium-like living space — of his dreams. Blackacre (@blackacresllc) shared a TikTok video documenting the trade.

"By trade, I'm an attorney. I'm out here with one of my high school classmates, who's a carpenter," the original poster explains. 

@blackacresllc Let's Negotiate! #bardominium #barndodyi #countryliving #offgrid #BarndoConstruction ♬ original sound - blackacres

"He's helping me build a fence at the end of the road, for the entryway, and rather than pay him, I'm going to set up his LLC for him, his payroll, and things of that nature."

The video shows a group of men starting the work of building a fence and drilling a deep hole in the ground to hold it. The camera pans back to the poster's work laptop on a wooden bench, which he uses to help set up and square away the legalities of his classmate's new business. 

"The bartering system … using what you got to get what you want, or need," the poster says. 

The system allows both parties to receive what they need by first giving what the other wants. In this case, the trade-off is a win-win for both parties, without spending a single dollar. 

The rest of the original poster's TikTok documents his journey to building his barndominium sustainably. 

This includes buying opened-but-still-new bags of concrete and culled lumber, which is wood that doesn't meet the standard quality for retail sale. You can find materials at a great discount when shopping at secondhand or salvage stores, which also divert still-usable items from waste and landfills. 

While not all barndominiums are off-grid, those that are can be designed to minimize energy use without needing to rely on the grid. 

For example, the high ceilings in barndominiums allow heat to rise, which can serve to keep an upper living space warm. Windows can be strategically placed at these higher heights, allowing trapped heat to escape and keeping the upper levels cool. 

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Installing large windows on these barndominium walls lets more natural light in, keeping the place lit without any energy use. 

Passive design uses space and design intelligently to first power, heat, or cool the home with natural elements. 

In Pennsylvania, Thomas Taft built a home using passive design principles that will cost "almost nothing" to heat. Another homebuilder in Australia built his family's dream home using passive design principles that will take little energy to maintain a steady, comfortable indoor temperature.

These alternative living structures prove that it can be affordable to live sustainably while helping cool the planet, one house at a time. 

"Team work…making each other better," one commenter said. 

"Love this," another user wrote.

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