by Peter McIntosh | Jan 4, 2018 | Adobe, Clay, Cob, Compressed Earth Brick (CEB), Earth testing, Earth theory, Events, Insulation, Living off-grid, Living Sustainably, Local materials, Long Way Home, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building course, Natural building methods, Natural mortar mixes, Natural plasters, Passive Solar Design, Peter McIntosh, Rammed Earth, Sand, Solar energy, Strawbale, Sustainable building, Thermal mass, Thermal performance
Attend our natural building course and take the first step to a sustainable future by learning hands-on natural building skills. Learn a whole range of materials and techniques while exploring questions around sustainable living based in Peter McIntosh’s experience...
by Peter McIntosh | Feb 15, 2016 | Earth testing, Earth theory, Living Sustainably, Local materials, Natural building, Natural building methods, Peter McIntosh, Rammed Earth, Sand, Sandbag, Sustainable building
The foundation of your natural building needs to be well-considered as the integrity of your building rests here. Decisions you make about your foundation depend on the materials you have available, the type of ground you have to build on and what carbon footprint you...
by Franz Muhl | Apr 5, 2015 | Adobe, Clay, Cob, Franz Muhl, Living Sustainably, Local materials, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building course, Natural plasters, Owner-builder journey, Peter McIntosh, Reclaimed materials, Sand, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements
In this edition of the Owner-builder journey, Franz Muhl writes about a mud brick addition to his Scarborough home: “Let me build a home from fertile materials that is beautiful and healthy to live in, have a very low footprint and would grow a forest if you...
by QPT Qala Phelang Tala | Sep 30, 2014 | Adobe, Amanda de Gouveia, Anita Venter, Clay, Cob, Community, Earth testing, Events, Insulation, Local materials, Mud brick, Natural building, Peter McIntosh, Qala Phelang Tala, Sand, Start Living Green, Sustainable human settlements
Imagine being outside on a chilly Free State winter morning with the sun just coming out and starting to gently warm your body. Now imagine being told to take off your shoes in order to trudge in icy cold mud. I glanced at my fellow volunteers and I saw a collective...
by Laurie Simpson | Aug 24, 2014 | Adobe, Clay, Cob, Dance like an elephant, Earth testing, Indigenous Building Systems, Laurie Simpson, Local materials, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building course, Natural building methods, Owner-builder journey, Permaculture, Peter McIntosh, Sand, Sustainable building, Termites
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...
by Peter McIntosh | Jun 3, 2014 | Adobe, Clay, Cob, Compressed Earth Brick (CEB), Earth testing, Earth theory, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Peter McIntosh, Rammed Earth, Sand, Sandbag, Strawbale, Sustainable building
By Peter McIntosh (Please note that in order to understand what is written here you will need to have read my previous post on understanding earth) Earth requires two properties to make it strong enough for building, compressive and tensile strength. In much the...
