While this is far from being an example of natural building, it does demonstrate an interesting concept for habitat that automatically responds to weather. Professor Weiguo Xu of Tsinghua University and his team have built a tourist reception center in China that opens and closes in response to the weather.The structure is used as an … Read more
In an effort to preserve an ancient building technique, Vista Grande High School in Taos, New Mexico is working toward adobe certifications for students interested in learning this original Southwest building style. Shop teacher Keaton Karvas (at left in the above photo) is engaging the students in his class with the finer points of adobe … Read more
I have been familiar with biochar as mainly an agricultural soil amendment that helps provide habitat for beneficial microbes and sequesters carbon in the ground. It hadn’t occurred to me that it could also be used as a building material, until a reader suggested that I check out this article at www.biochar-journal.org Biochar is a … Read more
Leading a repair team, Yang Long will spend around one year to restore an 800-meter-long section of the Great Wall in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. “Ningxia had long been at the junction of nomadic civilization and farming civilization in ancient times. In order to resist the invasion of nomadic peoples from the north, … Read more
Nearly a decade ago, Gaytri Bhatia gave up a well-paying job as an environmental analyst with the United States Environmental Protection Agency in Boston and moved back to India to take over her family’s ten acre farm and orchard. She has been transforming it from primarily mango production to a much more diverse food forest. … Read more
Delta Bay, a 12-acre RV park and tiny-house resort, on the banks of the San Joaquin River about 40 minutes outside Stockton, California is a legal tiny home community. Homes on wheels started rolling in just four years ago. The community has a biannual Tiny House event where tiny-house owners open their doors and allow … Read more