Miguel Elliott has been on a journey to develop a building technique that is super affordable, quick to build, well insulated, and natural. What he has come up with is the “Palletable Cobin.” Back in 2010 Miguel was living at a retreat center in northern California and someone had built a shed framed entirely with … Read more
You hear a lot about mass timber these days. Mass timber consists of engineered and compressed layers of young wood that are glued together for strength to create larger panels and beams. You can create larger beams and have more flexibility with mass timber. Depending on the engineering technique used, mass timber can be called … Read more
The new French environmental regulations position natural materials as a priority for a sustainable future in construction, in both housing and public buildings. Wood, straw, hemp, reed or bamboo, in combination with earth or stone for their high thermal inertia, offer virtuous alternatives to the use of cement. Straw-bale construction was developed in the 1880s … Read more
This 3,000-square-foot home in Vadodara, India, with three bedrooms and a pool, was built for a couple with two sons. They wanted an eco-friendly, well-ventilated home with plenty of natural light and an aesthetic blending with nature. “The layout is a simple one, divided in two blocks — one with all the living areas and … Read more
The manufacture of concrete, steel, and glass uses vast amounts of raw materials and water and emits copious amounts of greenhouse gases per year. A staggering 8% of total global carbon dioxide emissions come from cement manufacture alone. Moreover, embodied carbon, which is carbon released over the entire life cycle of a building, including end-of-life … Read more
This has got to be one of the best designed and executed camper vans I have ever seen! Clare Colins spent over a year designing it down to the millimeter and now lives and travels in it full-time. The van is a complete tiny home – with a kitchen, toilet, shower, office, and bed, all … Read more