GOT MUD?
If you do, you may have yourself a natural building. A century ago, all human structures were made from natural materials simply because that was what was available. Today, 75% of the world’s population still lives in earthen-based homes.
Natural building is more than just a trendy construction method; it represents a renaissance of ancient building modalities such as adobe, cob, timber frame, stone, and rammed earth. While these methods may have fallen out of fashion for a time, they have not been lost. Contemporary builders now have a fresh palette of ancient materials that can be combined with modern technologies to create homes that are beautiful, safe, affordable, non-toxic, and far less extractive to our ecosystem.

Natural builders take a broad approach to the construction process, starting with thorough observation of the construction site during the planning stage. This minimizes damage to the land while maximizing its inherent qualities, such as groundwater management, which supports the performance and longevity of a building.
Designing a natural building incorporates essential passive solar practices and utilizes local resources and materials, resulting in high-performance homes that require significantly less mechanical heating and cooling. The construction materials typically reflect the biome in which they are built. For instance, in the Pacific Northwest, where trees are abundant and fire risk is lower, timber and stone are appropriate materials. In contrast, the Mediterranean biome, which is predominantly hot and dry, features clay soil as a historical building material. Bamboo and thatch are common in humid tropical zones, while straw bale construction offers maximum insulation in extreme temperatures. Thoughtfully planned and designed in harmony with the land, these methods yield dynamic, resilient, and affordable homes.

Today’s construction industry often provides builders with synthetic products and materials for quick and easy structures. These products have obvious disadvantages, such as pollution and deforestation, as well as less apparent issues, like the introduction of toxins into our homes. While conventional materials are sometimes used in natural building, the goal is to reduce the use of extractive and toxic materials. This is achieved by utilizing local natural materials and manufactured items that are upcycled, reclaimed, repurposed, and recycled. The waste stream is rich with building materials, including beautiful windows, doors, beams, and lumber. Broken chunks of concrete, known as “urbanite,” are a natural builder’s dream for applications like retaining walls and stem walls.
Using appropriate earthen materials is increasingly relevant as wildfires become more common in our changing climate. The hard truth is that dirt cannot burn. Clay serves as the base for fire retardants, pizza ovens, and red bricks. Earthen wall systems like adobe and cob have been officially tested, proving that clay construction is non-combustible. When designed alongside smart site planning and management, a structure can be made virtually fire-resistant. Natural building offers a spectrum of solutions, from applying clay plasters on the exterior of a structure to full clay and metal house designs, with numerous options in between to help reduce flammability.
Beautiful, elegant, affordable, efficient, safe, non-toxic, fire and seismically resilient, and long-lasting—these are the qualities of a natural building.
Got mud?