Since 1993, the quarterly journal The Last Straw has been sharing news and developments from around the world about straw-bale construction and natural building. You can now find selected articles available online! How great is that?
It’s been super fun to watch the process of Ziggy and friends building his cob house, dubbed Gobcobatron, over the last year or so. It’s a new installation on the land of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, a ecological and socially minded intentional community in northeastern Missouri. Ziggy has been busy working on a spiral designed cob house with a reciprocating living roof, a rocket stove, earthen floors and interior finishes. Now it seems that he’s ready to move in!
I’m gracious to Ziggy for documenting the process as he works step by step through building a cob house. Sharing insights and taking the time to document his experience, which is no small feat in it’s self. Congratulations!
Visit The Year of Mud »
Jon Nunan is writing a book about alternative homes. He sent me a series of questions that I am answering here…
When did you begin your project?
May 31st, 2007. For this article I’m speaking about Oasis Pod 1. I’m also working on Oasis Pod 2, a.k.a SolUnit.
Oasis Pod 1 is a low cost alternative / natural building hybrid. It is off the grid. Meaning it’s power comes from the glorious light bulb in the sky, it’s water is harvested off the roof when it rains, and it’s heat, or some of the heat, is produced via passive solar design – heat from the sun, with propane backup. The roof is pretty conventional, though the walls are mostly natural building materials.
Continue Reading…
I’m very happy to announce that this Earth Day we are revealing two new natural building sites on the web!
After almost three years of volunteer development, it’s complete. Well, kinda… like anything on the web, it’s ever-changing. The new NBN website (2.0) is live, with member events, member profiles, official NBN News and natural building Articles. I believe the Natural Building Network will be the information resource on the web for natural building and related topics. There are many new features still in the works, so stay tuned!
Visit the Natural Building Network »
Cob Workshops is a free listing for cob building workshops and events.
The new Cob Workshops site has a fancy new design and a few new features. We’ve added the ability to search listings and browse by category. You can now Add Your Event straight from the web site; no need to email our volunteers. Many people have expressed that workshops are little out of their price range, so we’ve created a Work Exchange Message Board for those interested in exchanging labor for experience, or for those that are throwing Work Parties and could use some help. Listing your workshop will always be free, but we’ve added a new service called Feature Your Event, that will advertise your special event on Cob Workshops & I Love Cob!
