The Value of Cob Building

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 director, Sasha Rabin, the structures were made using — along with reclaimed fixtures such as … Read more

Witchcliffe Ecovillage in Australia

Witchcliffe Ecovillage in Western Australia will serve as home to around 700 people and be a model of sustainability for communities worldwide. The Ecovillage site spans about 300 acres of former farmland. Project co-founders and partners, Mike Hulme and Michelle Sheridan began the project with a plan to create “the most sustainable residential community possible”. The … Read more

Cob on Wood Homeless Community in Oakland, California

A group of homeless people and activists have built their own unsanctioned community center from the ground up — creating a kitchen, shower, toilet, health clinic, and free store in Oakland, California. The grassroots project is expanding the limits of what a homeless encampment can look like. The community center, located in the heart of … Read more

Two Week Natural Building Intensive

Learn skills, techniques, and design theory to create your own beautiful, durable, energy-efficient home from local and site-harvested materials. Most of each day will be spent practicing a wide range of hands-on natural building systems, some ancient and time-tested, others experimental. This workshop teaches a wide variety of techniques that you can choose depending on … Read more