The City of Cape Town, South Africa is using recycled materials to construct a new multipurpose center at the Helderberg Nature Reserve. The center, due to be completed by June 2021, has a horse-shoe shape and faces the Helderberg mountain. The Helderberg Nature Reserve will provide benefits include education, recreation, tourism, job creation and skills … Read more
www.firespeaking.com has a whole page devoted to mass heaters combined with staircases, which seems like a great idea to me. Both mass heaters and staircases take up quite a bit of floor space, so if you combine them into a unified structure they conserve space and add a lot of interest to the room. Below … Read more
The Mishings, a tribal community of Assam, India, are a rare group that has escaped the stifling economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. “We didn’t feel the economic pressures,” says Pabitra Mili. What came to the community’s rescue is the revival of an ancient food-forest practice generally known as agroforestry, where trees, shrubs, herbs and … Read more
The reason I am posting this at the Natural Building Blog is that the old abandoned school that this couple visited is still standing so proudly. It is a perfect example of how well built stone masonry can withstand the ravages of time. The story written below was penned by Daryl Austin about a wonderful … Read more
The Ulaman Eco Retreat in Bali is not only gorgeous, but is fully carbon zero. The nearby river has a number of small waterfalls that produce enough flow to power a hydro electric generator that can power all of the buildings within the complex. And all of the natural building materials were sourced in that … Read more
Clayworks brand is now offering what they call Rammed Earth Finishes that are designed to create earthy wall finishes that resemble rammed earth. This can be used on internal walls and is made entirely from natural earthen matterials. “Made, like the real thing, from 100 per cent natural clays, minerals, sands and colored with natural … Read more