“In a sense, virtually all buildings are hybrids of one sort or another. Most modern buildings employ a wide range of materials, some “natural” some not. A strawbale house, for instance, is most likely a hybrid of strawbales and conventional wood framing. Unless the building is a dome or vault, the roof is likely framed with wood or steel. Our domed home is a hybrid of earthbag and papercrete materials. I know of a fine circular home that was minimally framed with 2X4 studs and then strawbales set on their ends provided the insulation.
green building
Building a Light Clay Straw (Straw-Clay) House
“This is an introduction to light clay straw construction (a.k.a. “straw-clay”). In the summer of 2010, I started construction on my first house (20 ft. x 12 ft.). It was stud framed with light clay straw infill. I had helped with other natural building projects and had some conventional experience. This article is the product of all of my mistakes (and few successes) so that you, my fellow builder, do not have to walk the road that I have. Fortunately for y’all I built a chicken coop in 2011, and that helped me to learn more about building correctly with light clay straw. (One mistake being I should have done the coop first, but at least my chickens are happy.)
Natural Building Company
“The Natural Building Company builds beautiful, sustainable structures with natural materials.
We offer construction services for all kinds of project, from garden studios and home offices to community spaces and new build homes.
Four Good Natural Homes Websites
The Revolution Takes Us Home
This incredible site is a seemingly endless blog of amazing house photos. It’s similar to the tiny cabin site we featured a while back.
“the house shelters daydreaming, the house protects the dreamer, the house allows one to dream in peace.” – Gaston Bachelard
Source: The revolution takes us home
Earthen Building Techniques used for DIY Eco-dwellings in Portland
“Probably a lot of Portlanders, myself included, are wondering if they will ever be able to buy a house in Portland. Or if they buy one, will they be able to afford to keep it. Well I would like to offer once again a simple solution which is to build your house yourself, with help from your community. If you help me build my house, I will help you build yours. Doesn’t that sound like a good deal for everyone? Rather than go into the details of exactly how one could build a very advanced and efficient dwelling with little more than sand and clay from the building site, here I will stick to general comments about what I see going on now.
The Natural Building Companion
“A State-of-the-Art Resource for Natural Builders that is a part of The Yestermorrow Design/Build Library and includes an instructional DVD.