Non-toxic, no-VOC paint for any wall (+ finishing plasters) by Kirsten Dirksen on December 7, 2010 Michael G. Smith has spent the past couple of decades using natural materials to build all parts of a home, …
Avoid VOC: homemade natural paint (clay and milk) by Kirsten Dirksen on December 7, 2010 Paints are one of the biggest sources of VOCs- Volatile Organic Compounds- inside the home and their synthetic ingredients have …
A no-VOC earth plaster for a breathable, bioclimatic home by Kirsten Dirksen on November 29, 2010 Modern homes are often built so air-tight to provide good insulation that they don’t allow for fresh air to enter. …
Natural building: water-resistant earthen floors don’t off-gas by Kirsten Dirksen on November 3, 2010 Earthen floors are growing in popularity not simply because they forgo non-renewable resources, but because they have an aesthetic appeal …
Natural building myths: tiny homes & green roofs by Kirsten Dirksen on October 26, 2010 The most attention-getting natural homes are often small and topped with a turf roof (see tiny cob cottages in Wales …
Earth-built passive solar home: cob (south), strawbale (north) by Kirsten Dirksen on October 18, 2010 Passive solar design dates back over 2 and a half millennia to the ancient Greeks and Chinese; it not only …
Natural buildings don’t melt, no matter how rainy it gets by Kirsten Dirksen on October 14, 2010 With all the videos I’ve done on earth buildings (like the tiny cob cottage in North Carolina or the mudbrick …
Choosing a natural building material: cob, straw, a blend… by Kirsten Dirksen on October 11, 2010 You may find cob cottages particularly cute, but taste isn’t reason enough to choose one natural building material over another. …
Natural building codes: some straw bale, but little for cob by Kirsten Dirksen on October 5, 2010 There’s plenty of historical evidence that natural buildings hold up to time- witness the adobe California Missions or the 13th-century …
How to build a straw bale wall: natural building expert tips by Kirsten Dirksen on September 30, 2010 Bales of straw may seem a bit simple, but they’re very effective for building a home. “Walls go up very …
