Traditionally, in many countries, all building was green: homes were built with natural materials and built to last. In much of the Mediterranean, buildings paid equal attention to the needs of the users, available construction materials and protection from the environment.

In this video, faircompanies’ Nicolás Boullosa travels to Extremadura, Spain (his mother’s home region) to tour the humble, rural villages where traditional construction was surprisingly long-lasting and efficient: his mother reminisces about the standard limestone paint (not only a no-VOC option, but it also helped the walls breathe and balance humidity); he stops in at an old town built mostly of local stone; and his aunt gave him a tour of the “old town” of Cambroncino (Las Hurdes), now mostly abandoned, where homes were built mostly in the round (for protection against wind and water) and the walls were built thick for superior insulation.