Must see video of natural homes in Australia made with a wide range of natural materials. Even if some are too large for your tastes, look for design details.
sustainable
Thoreauvian simple living: unelectrified, timeless tiny home
“Seven years ago Diana and Michael Lorence moved to a 12-foot-square home without electricity in the coastal mountains of Northern California. They’re not back-to-the-land types- they’re not growing their own food, nor raising animals-, but, like Thoreau, they were looking for a place where they could get away from the noise of society and focus on their inner lives. For nearly 30 years they have lived in tiny houses, often in guest homes, though their current abode is the smallest and most fitting their needs. It was designed by Michael based on their experiences living in nearly 20 tiny homes across the country before finally settling here.”
SuperAdobe (Earthbags-Earthsleeves)
Permaculture is an ecological way of thinking and designing human interactions for resilient, sustainable living.
2013 Editor’s Choice – Fine Homebuilding Houses Awards
“This year’s EDITOR’S CHOICE award goes to a house that embodies a host of our favorite elements. It’s personal—a home years in the making that will nurture its owner’s passion for the arts, cooking, and wine-making for decades. Designed by architect Tina Govan, this heirloom house is built to harvest water and power from the sky, conserve energy within its state-of-the-art masonry walls, and present for centuries a sturdy defense against the inevitable hurricane churning up the Carolina coastline.”
Adobe Block Floors
Readers often ask our advice about the most practical floors for do-it-yourselfers. If you’re building your own sustainable home, I suggest building floors on grade. This eliminates the need for posts, beams, floor joists, subflooring, toxic glues and other materials used to build typical wood framed floors.
Foamed Lightweight Concrete
Natural builders strive to reduce their use of cement due to high cost and adverse environmental impacts. Sustainability conscious natural builders might use ferrocement, cement plaster or micro concrete roofing tiles which use relatively small amounts of cement, and avoid more concrete intensive materials such as concrete block. Foamed lightweight concrete is another material that could be added to the list of green building materials.