The recent Living Future 2019 conference in Seattle featured a presentation about carbon storing building components. To summarize, we cannot “net zero” our way out of the climate crisis. Net zero only addresses operational carbon. By focusing on embodied carbon, we can turn buildings into carbon sinks. The presenters tweaked Michael Pollan’s famous words about … Read more
In a backyard in Temple, Texas sits a playhouse for the homeowner’s grandchildren. “You mix play sand and straw together,” says builder Tracy McLoud. “You just take the lumps of cob and actually sculpt the structure without any formwork,” she adds. “It’s almost an exact replica of the miniature model that we built.” The cob … Read more
In a newsletter from Good Earth Global I learned that last week Dutch media conglomerate Zoomin.TV filmed their team at work in Kavre, Nepal with the displaced widows they’re working for. Since then almost two million viewers have learned of the advantages of earthbag building while seeing firsthand the plight of rural Nepali widows and … Read more
“A gale has risen and is sweeping the clouds across the sky.” Inspired by this famous verse in an ancient Chinese poem, the design team has presented a ‘pavilion of swirling clouds’ for the garden festival of BJFU. Covering an area of 120 square meters, the pavilion will serve as a hub for information during … Read more
This modern, eco-friendly home in Kerala, India is built primarily of mud and other natural materials, along with recycled elements. Passive principles were applied to let in light and much-needed natural ventilation for relief from Kerala’s tropical climate. To combat the heat and the monsoon rain, most conventional homes feature sloped roofs with thick overhangs … Read more
Thousands gathered in the World Heritage city of Djenné in Mali for the annual Grand mosque plastering ceremony. This adobe building is considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the Sudano-Sahelian architectural style. The plastering is done with banco, which is a mixture of sand, water, shea butter, rice bran and baobab powder … Read more