by Tarien Roux | Aug 9, 2017 | Anita Venter, Q&A, Sustainable human settlements
In honour of women’s day we asked Anita Venter a few questions about her grassroots development initiative using sustainable building methods in Bloemfontein. We have great admiration for the shack replacement initiative and what she has done to empower her change agents to become more self-sufficient and build community in her local context.
by Peter McIntosh | Feb 15, 2016 | Earth theory, Sustainable building
Choosing the right foundation: How materials, ground type, and sustainability shape your natural building’s stability Foundations for conventional building have, to a large extent, a one size fits all approach regardless of the type of ground you are building on i.e....
by Peter McIntosh | Sep 11, 2015 | Adobe, Alternative building, Alternative energy, Clay, Cob, Insulation, Living off-grid, Living Sustainably, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Passive Solar Design, Permaculture, Peter McIntosh, Solar energy, Strawbale, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements, Thermal mass, Thermal performance
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...
by Peter McIntosh | Jun 16, 2015 | Adobe, African Vernacular Architecture, Clay, Cob, Community, Guest post, Heritage, Indigenous Architectural Knowledge, Indigenous Building Systems, Local materials, Mud brick, Natural building, Natural building methods, Rammed Earth, Sustainable building, Sustainable human settlements, Thermal performance, Uncategorized
In this guest post by Jon Sojkowski, he chronicles common misperceptions of African vernacular architecture and how it is being abandoned for the status that comes with living in conventional Western style buildings. He asks whether these modern materials are truly...
by Peter McIntosh | Dec 7, 2014 | Adobe, Alternative building, Amanda de Gouveia, Dance like an elephant, Earth testing, Earth theory, Events, Heritage, Hermie Delport, Indigenous Architectural Knowledge, Laurie Simpson, Lebone Village Arts and Culture Centre, Lesley Freedman, Local materials, Malcolm Worby, Natural building, Natural building course, Natural building methods, Natural mortar mixes, Peter McIntosh, Qala Phelang Tala, Shack replacement, Start Living Green, Sustainable building
… and 2014 is no different. It is with pride and joy that we look back on the successes and new connections made during 2014. We launched our blog in March and have had over 5000 visits from people in 98 countries! The blog contributions included knowledge...
