| Natural Building "Natural building" is an umbrella term than connotes any sort of building that is accomplished with the use of natural materials primarily, as opposed to the use of man-made or industrial materials. There is, of course, a blurring of this distinction when any specific material or building technique is examined, because the influence of technology is all-pervasive in today's world. Still, it is worthwhile to focus on those ways of building that minimize the use of products that require considerable embodied energy for their manufacture or transportation. The objective is to build with simple techniques that don't further pollute the environment, consume more fossil fuel, or unnecessarily extract the resources of Mother Earth. Such techniques, by their very nature, have an aesthetic value that tends to blend in with the environment and "feel" natural. The categories listed on the navigation bar on the left represent some of the materials and building concepts that I am familiar with. The list does not necessarily represent everything that might appropriately belong there. Please contact me if you know of some way of building that you think should be included here.
| RESOURCES ARTICLES: |
A Sampler of Alternative Homes: Approaching Sustainable Architecture . This two-hour DVD, produced by Kelly Hart, provides an overview of sustainable building concepts. You can enjoy a look at a fascinating variety of homes and the creative people who built them! Discover how passive solar design and environmentally low-impact materials can be used to create comfortable and economical homes. See the use of both traditional materials, such as adobe, and innovative materials, such as papercrete and earthbags. This program offers a wealth of information about construction details and other considerations. It covers adobe block construction, piled adobe (similar to cob), rammed earth, both load-bearing and post and beam strawbale, earthships, earth-sheltering, cordwood, thin-shelled concrete domes, papercrete, earthbags, hybrid structures, and recycling various containers for housing. To watch a streaming video introduction to this program, click here. For a VHS videotape of this program go to the STORE.
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The Art of Natural Building: Design, Construction, Resources, by Joseph Kennedy, et al, 2002. I am actually among the et al in this book! I contributed two articles for the editors, one about my earthbag/papercrete house, and the other about the value of earth berming. This comprehensive introduction to the natural building field is for lay people, architects, and designers who wish to build beautiful, low-cost, and environmentally-sensible structures. From straw bale and cob, to recycled concrete and salvaged materials, this anthology of articles from leaders in the field focuses on both the practical and the esthetic concerns of ecological building designs and techniques. Profusely illustrated and packed with resources.
Natural Timber Frame Homes by Wayne Bingham, Jerod Pfeffer, 2007. Natural Timber Frame Homes lays the philosophical groundwork for how locally available materials result in more durable and beautiful homes. It asks us to consider the source of our wood, stone, clay, and straw and suggests that this awareness contributes to our perception of character in a finished house. Building naturally also gives us the feedback necessary to be conscientious environmental and economic stewards and allows us to play a meaningful role in the creation of our dwelling. This book puts the theory of natural building into practice by providing the tools to evaluate your area for potential building materials. Photographs and drawings pull the theory together into workable timber frame construction details with floor plans that are adaptable to your specific needs, including your climate and landscape. Beauty and character of traditional timber frame homes are a result of natural materials being crafted by the hands of the builder. By injecting ourselves into the process of home construction, we have the potential to live more connected to the natural world and influence the future of the Earth for the better.
The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes by Daniel D. Chiras, 2000. The Natural House is a tour of the construction, costs, and pros and cons of fourteen natural building methods. Straw Bale, Rammed Earth, Cob, Cordwood, Adobe, Earthbags, Papercrete, Earthships…whatever the method, the common goal is to create a house that is economical, energy efficient, nontoxic, soothing to the soul, kind to the environment, and pleasing to behold. This comprehensive sourcebook offers in-depth information that will guide your search for the perfect sustainable dream home. It is a must for home builders, contractors, and architects. Author Dan Chiras shows how you can gain energy independence and reduce your environmental impact through passive solar heating and cooling techniques, solar electricity, wind power, and micro-hydropower. He also explains safe, economical ways to obtain clean drinking water and treat wastewater, and discusses affordable green products. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Building With Awareness: The Construction of a Hybrid Home, DVD, 2005. This beautifully photographed how-to DVD will show you how to build straw bale walls for insulation, adobe walls for interior thermal mass (which greatly increases the efficiency of a straw bale home), earth plasters for a beautiful finish, 100% electrical generation by sunlight, and passive solar heating and cooling. This video could save you thousands of dollars in design and construction costs. Beautiful aesthetics and energy-efficiency can both come from the same materials. It is how the structure is designed as a whole that makes the difference. Follow the design and construction of one house - from start to finish - and see how aesthetics, comfort, and energy efficiency can all come from the same materials and design parameters. This video is jam-packed with green design and construction techniques from professionals working in the cutting edge of home building and design. Although the video emphasizes the idea of building small, the concepts can be scaled to any size structure. You will learn about rubble-trench foundations, post-and-beam framing for straw bale walls, step-by-step straw bale building techniques, adobe wall construction, roof framing, roof insulation, acid-stained concrete floors, rainwater cisterns, graywater plumbing, photovoltaic electrical systems, wiring for straw bale and adobe, radiant floor heat, window placement & installation, green materials, earth plaster mixes and techniques, and much more. Includes a full-color, 8 page quick-reference booklet with a floor plan of the home, plus a 16 minute narrated slide show of construction details. A second audio track, that doubles the design and construction information to over 5 hours, covers the pros and cons of various materials, construction costs, and discusses the experience of building your own home. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House: Bringing Your Home into Harmony with Nature by Carol Venolia, Kelly Lerner, 2006. To have a home that's more in touch with the earth, you don't have to start from the ground up! It's possible—and more environmentally friendly—to go green by renovating an existing home. With the help of Carol Venolia, an award-winning architect and bestselling author, and Kelly Lerner, a world-famous innovator in the field of sustainable development, even the least mechanically inclined person can make a difference in his or her dwelling…and to the planet. The two have produced a remarkable book—packed with information and photos, and the first ever in full color to cover the subject. It's lush and exquisite to look at, filled with motivational case studies and informative graphics, and completely user-friendly. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Building Without Borders : Sustainable Construction for the Global Village by Joe Kennedy, 2004. Building Without Borders describes pioneering efforts to create sustainable shelter for billions currently under-housed. It surveys projects around the world that are housing the homeless without destroying natural habitats to do so, by drawing upon local traditions such as bamboo, straw bale and earthen construction. Highly illustrated and popular in style, it includes case studies, technical information, and the latest thinking on truly sustainable construction, and advocates education and training as the means to empower local peoples to create houses for themselves. Joseph F. Kennedy cofounded Builders Without Borders, an international consortium of natural builders and architects serving homeless and under-housed populations. He teaches ecological design and natural building at New College of California, and co-edited The Art of Natural Building. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The New Ecological Home: A Complete Guide to Green Building Options, by Dan Chiras, 2004. As homeowners become more environmentally savvy and demand ecological choices, a new generation of architects and builders is emerging, intent on creating warm and inviting homes that cause only a fraction of the environmental impact of conventional building methods. The New Ecological Home provides an overview of green building techniques, materials, products and technologies that are either currently available or promise to be in the near future. There are chapters on green building materials, earth-sheltered architecture, passive solar heating and cooling, sustainable approaches to water and waste, energy efficiency, and environmental landscaping. Chiras sets the record straight on the vast potential for passive heating and cooling and provides a resource guide, recommendations, and a green-building checklist. He provides a wealth of up-to-date, practical information for homebuyers, owner-builders, and anyone interested in building for a sustainable future. Dan Chiras is a leading authority on green building and renewable energy options, and is the author of The Solar House and The Natural House, which Earthship inventor Michael Reynolds has called "a much needed, unbiased encyclopedia of sustainability that will put wind in the sails of our future." | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Natural House Catalog: Everything You Need to Create an Environmentally Friendly Home by David Pearson (editor), 1996. The Natural House Catalog draws on the very latest environmentally sound technology, providing all the information you need to create and maintain your ideal living space. Part One features over 100 Topic Pages, covering everything from water power to worm bias, thermal storage to feng shui. Each page describes alternative systems, how to make them work efficiently, the most appropriate locations, and different available options. Also featured are full-color Shopper's Pages, which display a diverse range of obtainable products. Here you will find a variety of goods such as photovoltaics, paints, control devices, and candles, all fully credited to the manufacturer, retail outlet, or catalog. Part Two comprises the Directory, which combines suppliers, products, and resources. It is divided into sections for easy reference and contains up to 2,000 listings and advertisements. The Resource Pages cite groups, organizations, and publications offering more advice on specific topics. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Designing Your Natural Home by David Pearson, 2005 .One of the pioneers of incorporating the green movement into home design, David Pearson now offers a complete guide for creating an eco-home. Informative, clear, and with factual advice, tips, and beautiful color photos, Designing Your Natural Home takes readers through each step of the process, from defining the scope of the project to choosing materials and building methods to decorating the new abode. Along with practical, how-to information, photo essays present inspiring and stylish examples of natural design. The ten innovative homes featured in this book exemplify different solutions for every situation and budget, from apartments to sprawling dwellings. Readers will learn how to make the most of small spaces, find a builder, draw up plans, purchase low energy appliances, and much more. Whether they're renovating an existing space, expanding a house, or starting from scratch, readers will be inspired to create the natural home of their dreams with this indispensable guide and source for fresh ideas.
Alternative Housebuilding by Mike McClintock, 1989. A giant, oversized, one-volume working encyclopedia! Why are so many craftsmen turning to alternative housing instead of conventional home designs? The Author thinks it is because you get to 'build something personal and something special, and enjoy the trip as much as the destination.' This book is your guide through the world of alternative house construction. It shows how to build with traditional systems now enjoying big revivals: log buildings, timber frame houses, structures made from adobe, stone or cordwood. And you also see how to build with the newer systems: pole foundations, rammed-earth walls, earth sheltering. But this is much more than a look-and-dream book. You get complete information on the construction techniques, with hundreds of step-by-step photos and drawings. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Building for a Future magazine, is published by The Green Building Press, which is dedicated to helping you create green, healthy and sustainable buildings. They provide regular and unbiased information via these publications: Building for a Future, the quarterly magazine, Green Building Bible, the definitive book, and GreenPro, a green product directory. This information is primarily focused on materials and projects in the United Kingdom, but would be of interest to a much wider audience. Most of the articles in the magazine are written by the very people that designed or built the projects described. This can be excellent inspiration for architects, builders, developers, self builders and everyone interested in eco-building, including homeowners. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alternative Construction: Contemporary Natural Building Methods by Lynne Elizabeth (Editor), Cassandra Adams, 2000. This comprehensive guide to combins traditional natural materials and modern construction methods. From adobe to straw bales, traditional building materials are being adapted to meet code-required standards for health and safety in contemporary buildings around the world. Not only are they cost effective and environmentally friendly, but, when used correctly, these natural alternatives match the strength and durability of many mainstream construction materials. This book examines a broad range of traditional and modern natural construction methods, including straw-bale, light-clay, cob, adobe, rammed earth and pis, earthbag, earth-sheltered, bamboo, and hybrid systems. It also covers key ecological design principles, as well as current engineering and building code requirements. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Good House Book : A Common-Sense Guide to Alternative Homebuilding by Clarke Snell, 2004. With this exquisitely illustrated guide, packed with 400 photos and illustrations, anyone can put environmentally friendly ideas into beautiful practice. Here’s an intelligent look at how a home is supposed to function and a variety of different building approaches. What’s important is finding the right solution to fit your individual needs, local climate, and natural resources. The broad range of topics covered include choosing a site; selecting materials; building with straw bale, cob, adobe, or rammed earth; and plugging into alternative home power systems. Interviews with six homeowners, and photos of the dream homes they built, provide invaluable insight. Clarke Snell is a builder with experience using a wide variety of materials and techniques, both conventional and alternative. The construction project closest to his heart is his own partially bermed, passive solar house, which he built in the mountains of western North Carolina.
Building Green : A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods by Clarke Snell , Tim Callahan, 2006. This absolutely groundbreaking manual doesn't just talk about eco-friendly building techniques, but actually shows every step! More than 1,200 close-up photographs, along with in-depth descriptions, follow the real construction of an alternative house from site selection to the addition of final-touch interior details. Co-authors Clarke Snell and Timothy Callahan (a professional builder and contractor) provide thorough discussions of the fundamental concepts of construction, substitutes for conventional approaches, and planning a home that's not only comfortable and beautiful, but environmentally responsible. Then, they roll up their sleeves and get to work assembling a guest house that incorporates four different alternative building methods: straw bale, cob, cordwood, and modified stick frame. The images show every move: how the site is cleared, the basic structure put together, the cob wall sculpted, the bales and cordwood stacked, a living roof created, and more. Most important, the manual conveys real-world challenges and processes, and offers dozens of sidebars with invaluable advice. It's head and shoulders above all others in the field. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Earth Construction: A Comprehensive Guide by Hugo Houben and Hubert Guilland, 1993. Translated from French, this extensive, 362 page, profusely illustrated resource covers EVERY aspect of earth building known, and is considered "the" primary resource for earth builders. Packed with information on testing soils; it reads like a good science book, and is invaluable for showing approaches beyond cob and rammed earth for construction. Earth rolls, sod turves, mudball, puddled clay and many historical earthen methods are described and shown in drawings. An asset for a personal or group's resource library. Hundreds of illustrations, B&W photos. Photo shows African mudball finish, photo is an example only, book photos are B&W. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ecology of Building Materials by Bjorn Berge, 200. As both a practising architect and a researcher, Berge introduces us authoritatively to issues such as using raw materials from renewable sources, and the possibilities of designing and manufacturing reusable building materials. The alternatives to modern building materials are outlined and discussed from an ecological perspective. In a time when environmental labelling is becoming increasingly popular and the producers of building materials are urged to be more environmentally aware, it is obviously important that we are acquainted with these alternatives.
Appropriate Building Materials The grandaddy of information on building techniques and materials. Imported from the UK this big book covers EVERYTHING about natural building, with photos, hundreds of sketches, uses in practice, unusual treatments, very low cost methods used in countries with few resources and much more useful information. Great to keep as a basic reference and idea book. 433 pages, 6x9, paperback Free clay-earth information included with this book. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification by Ross Spiegel, Dru Meadows, 2006. This excellent hands-on guide to designing environmentally friendly buildings -- those made from materials that preserve the earth's natural legacy for future generations -- is written by two nationally known experts on the subject. You'll find practical information on green product selection, product specification, and construction processes. You'll also learn just what green building materials are, where you can find them, and how you can use them effectively. This edition includes updated information on LEED requirements and how to integrate them into the specifications process and new sections on commissioning and on construction waste management. Other features are guidelines on how to evaluate the "greenness" of building materials, helpful sample forms to aid in selecting and specifying materials, and a brief history of relevant environmental legislation. Order your copy today. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Places of the Soul: Architecture and Environmental Design as a Healing Art by Christopher Day, 2003. Reviews: '...one of the seminal architecture books of recent times.' Professor Tom Wooley, Architects Journal
Living Homes: Integrated Design & Construction by Thomas J Elpel, 2001. The house of your Dreams does not have to be expensive. The key is all in the planning. How much a house costs, how it looks, how comfortable it is, how energy-efficient it is—all these things occur on paper before you pick up even one tool. A little extra time in the planning process can save you tens of thousands of dollars in construction and maintenance. That is time well spent! Living Homes takes you through the planning process to design an energy and resource efficient home that won’t break the bank. Then, from the footings on up to the roof, author Thomas J. Elpel guides you through the nuts and bolts of construction for slipform stone masonry, tilt-up stone walls, log home construction, building with strawbales, making your own “terra tile” floors, windows & doors, solar water systems, masonry heaters, framing, plumbing, greywater, septic systems, swamp filters, painting and more!
Natural Building and a New Sense of the Earth DVD produced by Inner Growth Books and Videos. Have you ever dreamed of another kind of life? Not the job that you don't want to go off to in the morning, or the house you have to keep on paying for year after year, but a life closer to the earth, a little place in the country that you build yourself, a garden and some solar panels for electricity, time to be with those you love and to do the things you most want to do. An impossible dream? Maybe not. Right now people all over are working to create an alternative to a consumer society that gives us less and less satisfaction and is more and more destructive to the earth and to us, as well. Explore the world of natural building and meet some of its pioneers who are creating beautiful and inexpensive houses out of earth and straw, houses that you can make, too. This is a way of building that can transform how you see the earth and yourself.
Earth Walls: Natural Building and Sustainability DVD directed by Tona Williams. Natural builders in Madison and rural Wisconsin build a cob wall (made with clay, sand, and straw) and insulate a home with straw bales. Participants celebrate the fun of natural building and talk about how to change conventional construction so that similar projects can catch on in cities. Includes demonstrations of foundations, cob mixing and wall-building, and lime plastering. Explore the functionality and artistic flair of homes called Earthships in New Mexico. Visits to completed and in-progress structures illustrate how tires, bottles, cans, and earth can create exceptional dwellings. Solar panels, passive solar heating, wind turbines, biodiesel, and rainwater collection also show life "off the grid." Includes discussion of choosing what kind of house to build, new ideas for walls, foundation and roofing options, utilizing insulation and thermal mass, embodied energy, permaculture, approaching a design, and building codes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Green Building Resource Guide
| The Ecological Design Handbook
| Green Building Materials: A Guide to Product Selection and Specification
| Reshaping the Built Environment: Ecology, Ethics, and Economics
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For more information about this plan, and many others, visit our sister site www.dreamgreenhomes.com, where you will find a wide range of plans for sustainable homes, greenhouses, small buildings, garages, and food storage space for sale. Dream Green Homes is a consortium of outstanding architects and designers, who have pooled their talent and expertise for your benefit. |
Traditionally, the native Americans enter their abodes from the east, so this where the airlock entry is situated. This large space can also serve as a closet and storage room. The large octagonal room is undifferentiated, but would serve as living, dining and ceremonial space. To the west is the master bedroom, with adjacent bathroom. To the left of the kitchen alcove is a large pantry that would be naturally cooled by its substantial earth berm. A second bedroom or studio faces the northeast. A large fenced courtyard area to the south provides privacy and wind protection.
| naturalbuildingnetwork.org is a non-profit membership association promoting natural building principles, materials and practitioners worldwide. naturalhomes.org lists workshops conducted around the world relating to all aspects of natural building. greenbuilder/discussion lists several green building discussion groups. earthbuilding.com Earth Building Foundation's informative site. greenhouse.gov.au this on-line manual provides an overview of why natural building is important and specifies several techniques. grisb.org The Geiger Research Institue of Sustainable Building features workshops, a strawbale certification program, articles and publications on many aspects of sustainable building, house plans (including a free emergency shelter plan), and links to much more information. mudcrafters.com specializes in adobe floors and earthen plasters, with lots of pictures and descriptions. lowimpact.org the Low-Impact Linging Initiative in England provides information and courses related to natural building. motherearthnews.com Mother Earth News has provided solid information on many topics related to sustainable living for several decades, and now many of these articles are available on-line. webconx.com discussion of various approaches to natural building. The Irish Eco Builders Website aims to be a technical source, discussion forum and contact base, for those interested in natural and eco-friendly buildings. Seven Generations Natural Builders this group promotes natural building (especially cob and straw bale) through workshops and other assistance. Harmony's Home Page lists lots of links (some annotated) to sites related to natural building in general. housealive.org specializes in workshops on Natural Building, Design and Appropriate Technology. newbuilder.co.uk publishes Building for a Future magazine, with many issues available on-line. coopamerica.org a directory of green services and products. lauriebaker.net an essay about the value of mud by architect Laurie Baker. potkettleblack.com an extensive collection of links to photos galleries of natural/alternative buildings distantplanet.net features two video segments of "The Natural House", one is about an interesting hybrid zero net energy house in Oregon and the other is about a company providing natural paints. nzdl.sadl.uleth.ca Fundamental information on these building materials: stone, earth, fired clay, lime, cement, pozzolanas, natural fibers, bamboo, timber, metals, glass, plastics; plus fundamental information about foundations, floors, roofs, walls, etc. gernotminke.de this is a wonderful gallery of the innovative earth architecture of the German professor Gernot Minke. |
This material was first brought to my attention by a local builder who has become a distributor for it and is building with it locally. It is really pretty fascinating stuff, with some great characteristics. In a way it is like man-made pumice, in that it is masonry, but is still rather lightweight. It is highly insulating and completely fireproof. I once held a one-inch thick piece of it it in my hand while a blow torch heated the opposite side, and I could barely feel it get warm! It can be cut with any carbide-tipped tool into very precise shapes, then the blocks can be "glued" together with ordinary masonry tile products. Precut blocks are available that have channels in them for standard rebar bond beam applications.This material has been used for buildings in Europe for a couple of decades, but is just now being tried in the United States. It is fairly expensive, but I would expect it to be extremely durable and create well-insulated and attractive structures. Interior and exterior finishes can be spayed on to provide a uniform, durable and colored surface. It has occurred to me that this stuff could be precut into "kit houses" that were architecturally intricate and beautiful, and would just need to be assembled by numbers.
Liteblok™ is an aerated, precision molded concrete block. Unlike autoclaved aerated concrete, it is not autoclaved. Rather, a non-toxic foaming agent is introduced to create a closed structure of discrete air pockets. The blocks are laid without mortar and are interlocking and lightweight allowing for significant savings in construction time and cost. Applications include residential and commercial construction, fences and retaining walls. 
Thermoplan or Zeigel Blocks are fired clay blocks which use about 1/3 less energy to make compared to concrete blocks, and about 2/3 less CO2. They are fast, simple and ideal for a self builder to use. About 50% of German homes are made this way and the technology is spreading to other areas of Europe. 
A light-weight super-insulated steel/sheet metal/ polymer cement structure for homes, shelters, or larger structures as per the photos of the model. A steel structure from sloped steel columns in the shape of multiple tripods will be covered by galvinized sheet metal to form a multi-conical shape. Similar shapes can be seen here 
2-Sloped steel support columns are placed in 'tripod' configuration. They will be connected together by welding or mechanical anchors to the concrete slab. Afterwards, they will be painted against corrosion.
The 1:15 model includes some elements that will make it easier to see how this system can be used in regular homes like dormers [for windows], skylights [black] , patio doors [black in the vertical wall] and a floor on part of the second floor supported by horizontal steel beams [image at left]. He applied a polymer/cement mixture to part of the roof to simulate the finished look of the structure. The base in this 1:15 model is 18x9 meters and the height is 6,5 meters [with a usable second floor] but scaling down this same shape could give a 10x5 meter based home with a height of about 3.6 meters with one floor . This could be an excellent size for homes in developing countries.
I feel so strongly about this method of making cementitious building materials that I would like to answer questions and/or become involved in any projects where my expertise might be helpful. I have been involved in concrete for over thirty years and travel the country as a Volumetric Consultant. 
