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 …
A downtown live/work dream house (with roof deck for naps) by Kirsten Dirksen on October 13, 2010 Alan Cohen’s commute used to take 20 to 25 minutes every morning. Now it takes 30 seconds, or however long …
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 …
Building your own bioclimatic home from earth and straw by Kirsten Dirksen on September 27, 2010 With very little instruction, anyone can build their own home, or so argues natural building expert Michael G. Smith. Since …
