How to manage water and natural materials In 2012 I was involved in one of the first ‘prototype’ earthship builds in Australia located in the lovely […]
What is an earthship? An earthship is a variety of off-grid passive solar home—or community of homes— made of natural and recycled materials such as old […]
Building regulations, insurance and finance for natural builds. How passive solar design and the use of natural materials fits within the National Construction Code is a […]
Once called Solar Homes, passive solar design has been around for thousands of years. Neolithic Chinese home builders originated much of the passive solar heating techniques […]
Strawbale pre-fabrication Building homes out of straw stacked on-top of each other has a long tradition, largely in the United States. The drawbacks are the rough […]
Natural building materials and the National Construction Code (NCC) There has long been tension between the lived experience and knowledge of those who have lived in […]
Building material of the month – Hempcrete For years there’s been a growing movement around this fabulous, versatile and eminently sustainable material. As the first feature […]
Building using earth (or subsoil) is one of the oldest construction techniques, providing simple shelter using freely available material. Buildings made from soil are found in […]
Natural Building is many things. Broadly speaking, it is use of natural and renewable materials to create shelter for ourselves: something humans have been doing for […]