Q&A with Jill Hogan, a pioneer of natural building in South Africa

In the first of our series of Q&As with pioneers of natural and sustainable building in South Africa and beyond, we caught up with Jill Hogan in honour of Women’s day in South Africa.  How did you first get involved in natural building?  In the early...

Transition Ethics: The Art of Compromise

Do we as ethical natural builders have a right to deny someone a home simply based on the argument of its purity? Surely it’s about having the humility to acknowledge that sustainability is about economy and social justice as much as it is about ecology. Scott...

How to incorporate passive solar design in your building, using thermal mass and insulation.

Passive solar design can dramatically reduce our demands on fossil fuels and other forms of energy input, allowing our buildings to become producers and not consumers of energy and resources, supporting us in a healthier more comfortable abundant way. Passive solar...

Owner-builder journey ~ Building ‘home’

In the first edition of the Owner-builder journey, Laurie Simpson writes about the challenges of building with mud in on the edge of Hwange National park, Zimbabwe. Seven years ago, after years of travelling, looking for the next adventure and never feeling like I...