Chris Magwood’s classic book, Making Better Buildings, is now available for free online! This is a comparative guide to sustainable construction for homeowners and contractors. It is also a masterpiece of research and experience folded into an encyclopedic reference book … Continue reading →
Three small cob homes (about 100 square feet each) cost around $500 each, not including labor. Quail Springs Permaculture, an educational non-profit in Southern California, built the houses over the span of a few months. According to their natural building … Continue reading →
Yi Zheng, an associate professor of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern University in Boston, has created a sustainable material that can be used to make buildings or other objects keep cool without relying on conventional cooling systems. Zheng envisions … Continue reading →
The following email from Andrew explains an idea he has for a way to arrange earthbags into a fairly rigid, reinforced configuration. It seems interesting enough for me to post here and solicit comments from you dear readers. What do … Continue reading →
Last year the folks at Vide Terra in Italy built an earthbag dome and decided to experiment with a thatched roof without a wood frame. Reed, bracken, cane thatching and experimental broom thatching, were directly attached to the dome. They … Continue reading →
The following blog post was written by Michael G. Smith originally for motherearthnews.com and I have shamelessly posted it here to further spread his wise words.A group of about two dozen people gather on a wooded hillside in Northern California. … Continue reading →