Building with Hempcrete on Maui, Hawaii

The second home on Maui, Hawaii using hempcrete for wall construction has been completed. Hempcrete is not only fire, mold and termite resistant, it’s also non-toxic, sound insulating, energy efficient, and absorbs carbon dioxide from the air. The owner, Jon Woodhouse, says, “Walking into my home, you can feel the difference compared to conventional home … Read more

10 Sustainable Construction Materials

parametric-architecture.com has made a list of 10 sustainable building materials shown below. Due to its quick growth and low environmental impact, bamboo has become quite popular. It is incredibly flexible, adaptable, and resilient, and it may be employed in construction for both structural integrity and beautiful aesthetics. Straw bales are a material that is both renewable … Read more

Cross Cabin Prioritizes Plant-Based Products

Greg Esparza designed Cross Cabin for his young family in Austin, Texas. It prioritizes plant-based products, from its cork-clad, cross-laminated timber enclosure and interior walls to the use of laminated paper as a hard surface material for showers and countertops. The project pushes the environmental paradigm that architectural value can arise from how a building … Read more

What Are “Passive Houses?”

In 1988, two physics professors, Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist began discussing the scientific components that might lead to better energy efficiency in building construction. They read the research, dating back to the 1970s, that suggested it was possible to construct a low-energy building that was designed to exploit passive solar technologies and establish a … Read more

The Future of Straw Bale SIPs

Natural building communities have striven for decades to establish straw as a viable building material, but have until recently focused primarily on fostering labor intensive hand-stacked straw bale construction methods. Progressive architects, engineers, and builders have incrementally refined the method of straw bale construction such that the best built straw bale homes rival the performance, … Read more

CobBauge House in the UK is Code Compliant

CobBauge House in the UK, designed by Hudson Architects, is the first code-compliant form of cob building, making an ancient building technique fit 21st century requirements. It combines hemp and mud in a unique way. Traditional cob walls would have to be more than one meter thick in order to comply with contemporary building regulations. … Read more