Natural Building Techniques

The addition pictured above was built for a family child care program that wanted a low-toxin, warm and comfortable environment for the children. The children watched and participated throughout the construction process. For more on this award winning child care program, visit the Bridges Family Child Care website.

This article shows participants from two natural building workshops that Design Coalition sponsored. The materials and construction processes involved are well within the capabilities of do-it-yourself home builders, and also can be adapted by professional builders.

Please note: This is a brief introduction to a set of integrated techniques, and is by not intended as a comprehensive how-to-build manual.

This portion of our website describes the same techniques and projects as our chapter in the new book Alternative Construction - Contemporary Natural Building Methods edited by Lynn Elizabeth & Cassandra Adams (John Wiley & Sons, publishers)

Also, check out our "thoughts on sustainable construction...."

... click here for more on our ecologically designed projects...

and click here for our short-list of directories for 'green' materials .

State of New Mexico's Straw-Clay Guidelines

Available for viewing or downloading (PDF)

Econest Building Company

Located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, the Econest Building Company presents workshops in the US and Europe to teach homeowners these low-impact building techniques. You may ask for their workshop schedule, and for their booklet MoosePrints, a primer for these techniques.

Workshop Leaders:

Ropert Laporte, Steven Vessey