Ten years ago when Tim Kroeker’s last child finally graduated high school, he and his wife decided it was now or never to follow through on their many years-long dream of building a house…an alternative house…in “the country”. They had investigated a number of construction methods…straw bale, cordwood masonry, rammed earth, Earthship, log, etc. …and … Read more
Teo Briseño in Southern California is an artist with many natural materials as his pallet. You can see the range of his work on his website: Brisenoarts.org One of his most recent works is this dome made with natural stone and wood. The locally harvested wood was cured for 2.5 years. Thin shell dome is … Read more
This man built a beautiful off-grid cabin with the help of friends for $65,000 CAD including the cost of the land. There was no road access to his lot so he had to bring in all of the building materials using a 4-wheeler with a small trailer, and then load them on a material elevator … Read more
Baltimore-based nonprofit Second Chance salvages unwanted building materials from single-family homes and other buildings. Founded in 2001, Second Chance “provides people, materials, and the environment with a second chance.” The social enterprise deconstructs old buildings, salvages usable materials and uses the revenue generated to provide job training and workforce development for people with various employment … Read more
The Eagleyew house is a beautifully sculpted custom green home built with nearly 100% natural materials. The light clay walls are made with a mixture of clay and straw, and the timber frame structure is built using wood from the property. There is a wraparound living roof, and the interior has earthen floors and natural … Read more
Morgan Caraway, of the Sustainable Life School, has informed me that his new earthbag tiny house class is online at https://sustainablelifeschool.thinkific.com/ He says that, “After over a year of hard work, the online earthbag tiny house course is live! It covers the entire construction of our earthbag tiny house from foundation to finishing. The class … Read more