Rammed Earth for a Sustainable Future in Nepal

Narayan Acharya builds eco-friendly buildings in Nepal through his startup named Sustainable Future. His company has already constructed over 50 buildings. “We use rammed earth technology to construct the buildings. These techniques were used by our ancestors to build their houses,” Acharya says, “We just improvised the techniques used by them for the better output … Read more

An Earth-Sheltered Home in Madison, Wisconsin

“It’s an earth-sheltered home. Not necessarily built into the ground, but it’s earth-covered on the roof and on a couple of sides,” explains Jennifer Rios, the listing agent for a house in Madison, WI. “It’s in a kind of older neighborhood, with typical mid-century homes and older.” “We went into it not really knowing what … Read more

A Portable Passive Solar Tent for Cold Regions

Ladakhi engineer, educator and innovator, Sonam Wangchuk has developed the prototype of a unique solar-heated tent for Indian Army soldiers stationed in the cold and high-altitude climes of Ladakh. Besides offering more space than the container cabins the Indian Army uses for its soldiers, this structure requires no kerosene for heating and thus emits zero … Read more

Tour an Artistically Converted Yurt

This 32 ft traditional canvas yurt is a beautiful one-of-a-kind 4-season yurt inspired by nature. It has been modified for the West Coast climate by adding a shingled roof, wooden siding, and extra insulation. From the outside, it looks like a round cabin but the interior still looks exactly like a yurt with canvas covers, … Read more

Earth-Sheltered Architecture Discussion

I am a member of a small group of natural building enthusiasts from around the world who are meeting online once a month to share ideas. This has been very productive and useful for all of us. Our last meeting was dedicated to a discussion about earth-sheltering that I led. Below is an outline of … Read more