In the high desert outside Taos, New Mexico, a cluster of otherworldly homes rises from the sagebrush. Curved walls sparkle with embedded glass; thick earthen berms blunt the wind. These are Earthships—self-sufficient buildings conceived more than 50 years ago by architect Michael E. Reynolds, founder of Earthship Biotecture.

An Earthship is designed to provide six human essentials from one structure: shelter, power, water, waste management, food, and thermal comfort. To do it, Earthships combine thermal mass (often earth-packed tires) and passive solar design for heating and cooling; rainwater collection with filtration and staged reuse (potable → greywater for plants → blackwater); and on-site renewable energy via rooftop solar (sometimes wind). Many include lush indoor greenhouses that turn wastewater into tomatoes, herbs—even bananas in alpine climates.

“After decades of trial and error, I finally feel like I know what I’m doing,” says Reynolds. “Now I’m spending the rest of my life sharing that knowledge.”

Who’s behind the movement

Reynolds began experimenting in the early 1970s—famously with can-and-bottle “bricks”—and formalized the approach as Earthship Biotecture. Today, his team’s projects span climates and countries, from luxury models like the Phoenix Earthship to pared-back disaster-relief builds.

For a Green Prophet primer from the archives, see “How to build an Earthship”.

A new virtual space: Earthship Backstage

To open up five decades of R&D, Earthship Biotecture recently launched Earthship Backstage, a members-only archive packed with original drawing sets, concept art, construction animations, engineering notes, rare books (including The Coming of Wizards), and Q&A videos with Reynolds. It’s both a living museum and a practical toolkit for builders, students, and policy-minded skeptics.

Learn it, then localize it

Earthships aren’t meant to be copied blindly from Taos; they’re a set of principles that adapt to place. If you’re Earthship-curious, start small and start local:

1. Learn the principles—passive solar, thermal mass, staged water reuse, on-site renewables, and indoor food systems. A concise intro lives at Earthship.com.
2. Check codes early—zoning and building rules vary widely. (Green Prophet has covered low-carbon building pathways across the region; e.g. adobe & straw in Israel.)
3. Get hands-on—Earthship Biotecture runs Weekend Seminars in Taos (next up: Sept 27–28, 2025) and an in-person Academy, with a condensed one-week format launching in 2026.
4. Use local materials—the “earth-first” ethic means sourcing what’s abundant and climate-appropriate.
5. Prototype—build a greenhouse, studio, or battery room to master techniques before committing to a full home.

Materials & strategies by climate

One strength of Earthship design is material flexibility. The table below suggests starting points; always tune to local codes, hazards, and supply chains.

Regional starting points

• Middle East & North Africa (desert/arid): prioritize adobe/rammed earth, deep overhangs, night-flush ventilation; study vernacular masters like Hassan Fathy and New Gourna (read more).
• Levant & Mediterranean (hot-dry summers, cool winters): hybridize stone or compressed earth with high-performance glazing and shading; consider cistern-centric water layouts.
• Europe & North America—temperate/forest: straw-bale skins over earth-tire cores boost R-value; manage vapor carefully in wet seasons.
• Cold continental/mountain: increase insulation, add airlocks/vestibules, optimize solar gain windows with insulated shutters; greenhouses double as heat buffers.
• Tropical coastal: trade some mass for ventilation and shade; specify borate-treated bamboo and lime plasters to resist pests and mold.

Why it matters now

Grids strain under heat waves and storms; water scarcity grows; construction waste piles up. Earthships aren’t a universal answer—permits can be hard, sweat equity is real, and costs concentrate up front—but they’re proof that buildings can deliver resilience rather than passively consume it. They’re also a cultural bridge: a modern system that honors vernacular wisdom, from Nubian vaults to Mediterranean stonework.

Get involved

• Explore the archive: Earthship Backstage
• Go hands-on: Weekend Seminar (Sept 27–28, 2025) or the
  Earthship Academy (condensed 1-week format from 2026)
• Primer and context on Green Prophet:
  Earthship 101 •
  Adobe & straw in Israel •
  Strawbale how-to

Further reading on natural building (Green Prophet archive)

• Hassan Fathy: the Middle East’s father of sustainable architecture
• New Gourna & Hassan Fathy’s earth architecture for the people
• How to build an Earthship
• Building with adobe and straw in Israel
• Build your own strawbale home (Canelo Project)
• The strawbale house in Israel
• Micro-financed straw houses for Pakistan (quake-resistant)
• Five innovative firms building with bamboo
• Tiny house built with diaper–concrete upcycling

The post Earthships: the off-grid homes built to weather any future appeared first on Green Prophet.

Environmentalists have been stressing the problems of modern construction and architecture for decades. Some of the biggest concerns are the use of concrete ––  its impact on sand and carbon emissions, and its poor thermal capabilities. Or the fact that local materials just aren’t used enough. If you look at the rapid expansion of cities like Dubai, the problems are obvious: starchitects brought in from abroad to build a glittering city meant to support “the high life” and create a feeling of abundance among the sand dunes. As though sand dunes and deserts aren’t glorious enough.

Dubai has created the Palm Jebel man-made islands with un-circulating swamps and a Burj mega-tower that is built so trucks need to pump out sewage daily. These are examples of unsustainable architecture. Can architects, and students of architecture do better for planet and people? Yes, and the answers are somewhere in the bible of vernacular architecture called Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing World, edited by architect Sandra Piesik with contributions from about 100 architects who specialise in geographic regions, climates, and local materials. 

What you get in Habitat, updated just last year, is a world of possibilities as we look forward to new sustainable practices that mesh with nature and the humanity in us. You get proven examples of low-cost sustainable architecture for every geographic and climatic region on this planet. You also get modern takes of vernacular values, and applications providing inspiration for architecture firms young and old.

Your life as an architect or student can not be complete without owning a copy of this masterpiece of a book.

The problem I see in architecture today is a disconnect between architects, the investors in architecture and the approach to culture and place. Big firms still get the highest bids for so-called sustainable architecture, with firms like Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid‘s firm winning the bids even when the plans for cities in Saudi Arabia could mean wiping out an island’s ecosystem or making no sense for the climate. There will be ski hills in the hot desert or a linear city that transects a mile of desert on the Red Sea. We learn from the ultra-modern zero-waste Masdar City that no-one wants to live in futuristic ideas alone. We also learn from Hasan Fathy that a local architect’s vision of mud housing may not fit the cultural needs of a people. How can we create a better fit? HABITAT offers some clues. 

If you are an architect who wants a crash course on sustainable architecture this book is an antidote to the troubles to today’s senseless planning and construction industry.

What I get from the book as I was thumbing through it: people need a human-scale approach to housing: that’s why we seek balconies, terraces and small gardens in the city. We feel better around trees and nature in any instance, and if you have had the chance to sleep in a home made from natural materials, you will agree it impacts your sleep and overall mood.

I’ve stayed in vernacular homes in Normandy, France (built with no nails); in mud and stone palaces in Syria, in caves in Cappadocia, in my own vernacularly built pioneer home in Canada; in Bedouin tents in Israel; I’ve stayed in strawbale homes with Bill and Athena Steen in Arizona, and I’d spent plenty of nights bamboo huts and homes in Thailand.

What links all these remarkable dwellings is the local: homes and shelter built without architects or designers, built with local materials such as stones and wood, wool, mud and bamboo, and in a way anchored with ancient wisdom that kept climate in mind because that’s how people survived.  

Every architecture student, practitioner and teacher needs to read Habitat: Vernacular Architecture for a Changing World by Thames & Hudson: It is a breathtaking and astounding encyclopaedia of natural building that can save our planet. Professionally speaking indigenous architecture is also called vernacular architecture. Vernacular is a great way to describe indigenous architecture as it can include materials from the built environment, as we see in images and descriptions of slums in Brazil and Africa.

Habitat, recently updated in May 2023 since its original publication in 2017, and edited by architect Sandra Piesik, shows you the power of a dedicated publishing house in this book. It is a landmark publication signalling to every nation and people in the world to start cataloguing their vernacular before it it is lost. HABITAT can be the basis for a series of vernacular architecture books from every corner of the world.

Habitat contains over 1000 illustration, organised by the five major climate zones, covering polar, temperate, tropical, desert and continental, and more than eighty countries worldwide. The book reveals how people and cultures have adapted to their environment to make the best use of indigenous materials and construction techniques, and stresses the importance of preserving disappearing craftsmanship and local knowledge before it is too late. It is an invaluable resource document for the future generation who will shape our built environment.

Over in the Middle East we know that Hassan Fathy devoted decades of his life to building New Gourna, a model as architecture for the people. His experiment worked as a concept but did not spread as much as he would have wanted. An almost 500 pages of this book, includes the vernacular greats like Fathy, but it also serves to show the reader highly unusual and sometimes temporary structures built by tribes in the jungle, like the stilt houses of the Korowai people in New Guinea. 

What gives the book credibility is the approximate 100 authors and researchers, leaders in their fields of sustainable architecture giving an historical, climatic and materials overview to their geographical sections. If you are dealing with climates and materials you can search in the notes and bibliography according to geography, climate regions, learning more than you thought you could know about local architecture around the world.

A series of helpful essays and photos gives us a glance at how we can apply contemporary vernacular in today’s buildings, with a look at Morocco’s Technology School of Guelmim or Sabla’s Palm Leaf Shelter’s in Abu Dhabi. If I have one complaint about Habitat is that the photos are too incredible, the essays too information-filled that it makes reading the book from cover to cover an impossible task. It is the grandmother book to Lo-TEK, a book I own that covers radical indigenism in building, as the author puts it, or rather, radical ways to build using natural building materials and knowledge at hand.

Productive healthy, happy people need a roof over their heads –– one that offers an honorable, comfortable and secure place to live is something that everyone everywhere needs. If you have traveled to any desert in the Middle East or even Egypt, you will see people living in hobbled-together tin shacks, barely keeping out the freezing wind at night or the debilitating sun by day. Better-loved vernacular practices can show the people how to build better, and maintain the homes with local materials.

Don’t think this is just an idea for developing countries. The tiny home and global nomad movements in America, Europe and Canada are fuelled by economics. People don’t want to spend their lives working for the home they don’t get time to live in. People want to live not to spend their lives working.

An interview with the editor of HABITAT Sandra Piesek

Sandra Piesik is an award-winning architect, author, and scientist specialising in a diverse range of subjects from art and design to the implementation of global sustainable legislation, nature-based solutions, innovation, technology transfer, and contemporary adaptation of traditional knowledge. She is the founder of 3 ideas, an Amsterdam-based consultancy, a member of the New European Bauhaus EU initiative, an advisor to UNFCCC, and a former senior consultant to UNFCCC, UNCCD, and UN-HABITAT Global Solutions Division on territorial integration. She’s also edited a book on Arish – Palm leaf architecture. 

Here is our interview with her:

What inspired you to start this massive undertaking of cataloguing the world’s vernacular architecture.

I was invited by Thames & Hudson to edit HABITAT in London in 2012, following our previous book ‘Arish: Palm – Leaf Architecture’, which coincided with the first European Exhibition on Date Palm Leaf Architecture in the United Arab Emirates at The Royal Geographical Society in London in 2012. The genesis of understanding vernacular architecture came from my research in the UAE focused on date palm architecture and conviction that it holds solutions to some of the pressing challenges of our times.  

HABITAT seems very neutral. What is your approach with the book?

HABITAT is structured around five climate zones of the planet, based on the Köppen Geiger climate classification. We focused on the geography and ecosystems, and by doing so we provided evidence of an intrinsic relationship and co-dependency of the built environment with individual climate zones, their natural resources, and the built environment. I have to credit 143 contributors from over 50 countries and the Thames & Hudson editorial team.  

Despite your neutrality, do you have 3 favorite vernacular architects? Who are they?

Vernacular architecture is ‘architecture without architects’ in other words indigenous peoples of the past were all architects creating bio-design masterpieces based on one fundamental skill: their capacity to observe nature.  My favorite case studies are from Bolivia, where Chipaya indigenous peoples worked as civil engineers at the regional scale redirecting rivers and intervening in the ecology of the salt flats in Bolivia, vernacular architecture there is a by-product of environmental activities. In China, Kam communities embraced agroforestry, and their spectacular drum towers as well as timber architecture reflect the regional bioeconomy. I must also mention Liwa Oasis in the United Arab Emirates and a date palm leaf architecture by Bedouin tribes of the Rub Al Khali desert, whom I had the privilege to meet in person. 

We created an online exhibition: ‘HABITAT Embracing Change in the post-2030 Future’  in collaboration with G-STIC and all three case studies are mentioned there as well in addition to HABITAT. 

What are the biggest lessons architecture students can take from this book?

The intrinsic relationship and interconnectedness of the built environment with its natural ecosystems and climate zones. Contextualization of architecture and urbanism within bio-economic activities, giving birth to bio-circular economy and bioregional approaches 12,000 years ago. Frugal innovation derived from the observation of nature and shaping an identity of the place through ornamentation and design. 

We see catastrophic situations for refugees and migrants around the world. In Gaza, Syria, Afghanistan. What kinds of projects could scale quickly to get decent and local housing for people in a crisis? Do you have any thoughts for architects building shelter? 

The fundamental issue here is to bring geography to the discussion on climate change, which has been absent in recent years. Understanding the interconnectedness between climate change, agriculture, provision of jobs, and livelihood strategies would reduce migration and allow for holistic approaches.  The demand for emergency accommodation is increasing all over the world. Cities like New York work within the existing urban fabric, historically the Gulf basin cities provided accommodation for the refugees in the peri-urban areas and what is needed are livelihood strategies in addition to housing alone, as well as a socio-economic mix to building shelters. 

What would you like to see less of in architecture? 

De-globalization and de-westernisation of architecture will lead us to new bio-regional models of urbanism which the planet and its peoples desperately need.  Narrow and sectorial approaches to the built environment limit our capacity to address the multidimensional challenges of our time, and I hope that the future will bring broader perspectives. I also think that quantitative approaches to sustainability focusing purely on metrics limit the role of architects’ qualitative and creative approaches and this is what historically we as architects had to offer. 

What would you like to see more of?

I would like to see more bio-regional initiatives such as the New European Bauhaus embracing sustainability, inclusion, and beauty adopted by various regions across the world within their own ecological, cultural, and social domains. I would like to see more of the plurality of approaches, where once again we will be able to co-create new forms of regional cultures. I hope that in 2024 and the future, we will be able to base all our actions and decisions on the positive impact we are making on nature and each other. 

About the publisher of Habitat

Thames & Hudson is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, and popular culture.

::HABITAT, $65

More Vernacular Architecture on Green Prophet

Morocco’s Hemp Solar House

Other earthen buildings in the Middle East include adobe (mud brick) houses in the Marshes of Iraq, the tallest city of Shibam in Yemen, Bam in Iran as well as the eco-friendly architecture of the Egyptian architect Hassan Fathy.

The Beehive Homes of Syria

Nader Khahili Homes for Palestinians 

Palm Leaf Habitat at Dubai Design week

The post The vernacular architecture book appeared first on Green Prophet.

A tiny house was built using recycled baby diapers and concrete showing this novel recycled material mix can replace up to 40% of the sand used in concrete without reducing its strength, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Kitakyushu in Japan.

The team published a study in Scientific Reports about their findings and say that it could be used to create low-cost housing for low-income countries.

A small, tiny house was built in Indonesia to demonstrate how the material works, using a concrete mix which diverts 1.7 cubic metres of diaper waste from going to landfill. Plastic bottles, tires, essentially Earthships (how to build one here) made from waste –– are all ways to divert garbage from going to landfill. This latest idea integrates a common household nuisance – diapers.

The downside to the new building material is that diapers decrease compressive strength in the building, so columns and beams would require a smaller proportion of the diaper waste than do architectural elements, such as walls.

As for being a practical solution, unfortunately, “there’s no supporting system in the municipal waste management to separate diapers”, notes civil engineer Siswanti Zuraida, who led the project in Indonesia.

Municipalities in countries like Canada have the ability to separate diaper waste from compost and other household waste so trying further pilots in Canada might be worthwhile.  

The Japanese researchers in this study were trying to solve two environmental problems together: disposable diapers used both for babies and an increasing elderly population in countries like Japan are a growing source of non-recyclable waste, and cement production is responsible for almost 7% of global greenhouse-gas emissions, while consuming 50 billion tonnes of sand each year.

The diaper-concrete house in Indonesia demonstrates how this type of waste could be used for building housing in lower and middle-income communities. But better ideas using vernacular building techniques are out there: trailblazers like Bill and Athena Steen in Arizona have shown in an endless number of projects in Mexico that local, vernacular architecture can replace concrete altogether, and provide passive air conditioning and heating. Their solution uses natural strawbale building, adobe and earthen plaster that breathes.

The late and alternative builder Nader Khalili from Iran used superadobe methods (basically sand in bags, skipping concrete altogether), to build homes that nurture the human psyche, with caverns made to be soft and organic (like people), without modern sharp, square edges.

And Egypt’s Hassan Fathy nurtured the vernacular with his development of New Gourna for Egypt’s poor. As we see in Saudi Arabia it wasn’t that long ago when kings lived in mud houses – see the House of Saud’s ancestral mud house. 

But modern architects love concrete; they are addicted to it, despite its toll on the planet. Indonesia, home to creative bamboo architects that gave birth to the Bali Green School, can surely come up with a better idea than more concrete. 

Siswanti Zuraida, a civil engineer at the University of Kitakyushu, began putting the project together while lecturing at the Bandung Science Technology Institute near Jakarta. Populations in Indonesia’s low- and middle-income brackets are growing, along with more babies, more diapers and more demands for low-cost housing.

“It’s all about the resource availability,” says Zuraida. “With the growth of the population, the diaper waste will also grow. It’s challenging, so we thought that this would be a part of our contribution to recycling this waste.”

Single-use diapers are made from wood pulp, cotton and super-absorbent polymers, small amounts of which have been shown to improve the mechanical properties of concrete. With funding from a Jakarta-based waste-management company called Awina, Zuraida set out to determine how much sand could be swapped for shredded nappies to create useful concrete and mortar.

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Working with NASA as part of an initiative to design homes fit for space, Iranian architect Nader Khalili conceived the dome home as an affordable, accessible, easy to build, and environmentally sensible housing solution. Now it’s being applied in the West Bank.

One of our close friends apprenticed with Nader Khalili in California. Fleeing Iran, he first presented his Superadobe construction method, which involves stuffing bags full of readily available dirt and then stacking them in a circular form. The bags are held together with barbed wire, and then covered with lime plaster. Any holes are filled in with grout.

The resulting homes are so well-insulated, no air-conditioning is necessary in summer, and in winter, the thick walls retain enough heat to keep the interior space comfortably warm. Much like strawbale homes, pioneered by Bill and Athena Steen in Canelo, Arizona. We visited them in the early 2000s. Read the story of Canelo here.

In 1991, Khalili founded the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth), which continues to provide workshops and empower people around the world with these low impact structures. Superadobe technology, a kind of low-tech technology, was designed and developed by architect Nader Khalili and Cal-Earth Institute, and engineered by P.J. Vittore.

Related: Nader-Khalili resort in Oman wins big accolades

For SharmsArd, the young Palestinian firm that Ahmad Daoud commissioned to build his home in Jericho, building with Earth was an obvious choice that allows them to feel empowered in the context of the nation’s ongoing struggle against Israel’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the West Bank and Gaza.

One of the firm’s partners, Danna Massad, expresses their collective desire to operate independently of the foreign aid that so many Palestinians have to rely on to make any kind of respectable living in Palestine. I think the Palestinian society is oversaturated with international aid,” she tells NPR’s Emily Harris.
“Of course, we’re not the only example of a local business that refuses any kind of aid, but we can see how excited people get … to see how you can actually do something without being dependent.”

Despite some skepticism from his community, Daoud is chuffed with his new home.

“It’s an environmentally friendly house,” he told NPR. “I can tear it down and nothing will remain. In the summer, I don’t need air conditioning, and in the winter, I don’t need heat.”

Photos of the construction process taken from SharmsArd Facebook Page which has not been updated since 2020. As of October, 2023 their website page has not been working. 

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In the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that rocked its southeast region in October and rendered 14,000 buildings uninhabitable, Turkey is about to embark on its biggest ever urban renewal and construction campaign. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has promised that the new buildings and property, which will require an estimated $255 billion in investment, will be “safe and sustainable” — unlike their predecessors.

If Erdoğan’s serious about those goals, we have one piece of advice for him: straw bale construction.

The advantages of a strawbale home

From environmental and cost-effective perspectives, straw bale outshines conventional building techniques in several ways.

The resulting buildings are up to twice as energy-efficient, because the thicker walls in a straw bale structure conserve heat during the winter and cool air during the summer, slashing utilities bills. In addition, the materials and labor cost required to construct a straw bale house are far cheaper than typical construction materials and the specialized builders who must be hired to work with them.

With the proper guidance, a family can build their own straw bale house, making it a logical building method for regions that require hasty, large-scale development.

Far more quake-resistant than conventional buildings

As far as Turkey’s concerned, however, the biggest advantage straw bale homes can offer might be their special ability to withstand tremors in the earth. Because of the flexibility of straw, bales of it can absorb shocks that would destabilize or snap harder building materials.

At the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation facility at the University of Nevada, Reno, straw bale homes were subjected to earthquake simulations in a study during March 2009. The houses survived accelerations greater than those experienced during the 7.6-magnitude 2005 earthquake in Kashmir.

Will Turkey choose the right development path this time?

In the aftermath of previous earthquakes in Turkey, the government has shown a disappointing tendency to replace collapsed buildings with just as shoddy ones.

After a 1983 earthquake, the Turkish government at first won praise for building 1,568 pre-fabricated homes in 54 days. Gradually, however, their inhabitants began to notice that the structures were not suited to the climate or local culture, were too small, and their construction had generated no local work.

It’s buildings like those, moreover, which are most hazardous to their residents when a quake strikes.

According to Earthquake Report’s analysis of Turkey, the main reasons for the collapse of buildings in the Van earthquake were: “inadequate materials, improper methods of construction, lack of repair of previous damage and inadequate foundations.  Improvement in the local building materials and methods of construction both for repairs and for new buildings is more desirable than the relocation of the villages and towns.”

Studies have shown that half of Turkey’s 19 million houses are prone to earthquake damage. The upcoming urban renewal project that Erdoğan is touting will renovate or rebuild 8.5 million of them. Let’s hope the government decides to get the job done right this time.

:: World Bulletin

Read more about disaster-proofing across the Middle East:

Micro-Financed Straw Houses For Pakistan Are Quake-Proof

Middle East Countries Prepare For Natural Disasters

Will Iran Be Ready For The Next Tsunami?

Image via IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation/TURKEY

The post Rebuilding In Earthquake-Stricken Turkey With Eco-Friendly Strawbale Architecture? appeared first on Green Prophet.

A house made of straw and mud: sounds like the Biblical Jews enslaved in Egypt building cities with bricks that wouldn’t hold together. Yet Sarah Kopp built a house from bales of straw held together by chicken-wire, plastered with a mixture of mud, sand and chopped straw, resembling the renovations done at the Khan of the White Donkey, right there in Safed. How long can she expect this primitive-sounding structure to stand?

“One hundred years,” says Sarah, calmly.  “If you’re talking about sustainable architecture, straw bale is the number one choice.”

In Nebraska, where in pioneer times straw-bale homes and dugouts were the only options, century-old straw bale houses are still standing. Her own has has withstood a recent earthquake without damage.

We visited the Kopp home in Safed, Israel this week. There was nothing primitive about the electricity, plumbing, spacious rooms with tiled floors, or shady porch. Nor in the green concepts behind the comfortable 2000-foot dwelling:- reportedly the first straw-bale house in Israel.

Dissatisfied with her modern cinder-block apartment, stay-at-home-mom Sarah Kopp dreamed of creating a house out of sustainable materials. She found support in an international organization of straw-bale builders on the Internet. Reading everything available on the topic and learning through experience, she has become one of Israel’s foremost authorities on straw-bale construction.

“I worked with the architect and engineer, and was the general contractor of my house. I taught the workers on site how to put up the straw bale walls, and did the interior earth-plastering myself. The roofers I hired refused to install the insulation on my roof; they said it was a waste of money. So I did it myself, standing on a ladder while they jeered from the ground. Modesty apart, the insulation works fine.”

GreenProphet: Sarah, what makes straw-bale buildings so sustainable?

Sarah: Ecologically, straw-bale housing is excellent. First, the basic material is almost non-processed. Then, it’s everywhere, almost free. It’s just a waste product of farming. Getting rid of straw is a problem for farmers. It’s against the law to burn it, and since it’s mostly cellulose, it’s no good for animal feed. But it makes ideal building material.

What advantages does straw bale have? Don’t vermin like to nest in it? How about fire safety?

Bugs and mice aren’t attracted because straw has no food value. And the plaster on the sides of the bales makes your walls almost fireproof. The one thing to look out for is leaking- the straw would get wet. That’s avoided with proper construction. As for stability – we had an earthquake measuring 4 points on the Richter scale in Safed, but no cracks appeared in the walls.

How long does it take to build a straw-bale house, and how do building costs compare with a conventional house?

A private individual might need up to six months to build a two-story house like ours. It could be done faster; it depends on how much disposable money he has at any time. The cost is about the same as building a conventional house. The straw bales themselves account for only about 13% of the building budget.

When we asked about the quality of life inside the house, Sarah said:
“My husband and I and our nine kids have lived in this house for nine years. It has completely justified our expectations of comfort and economy. One small wood-burning stove heats the entire structure in winter, and the ambient temperature is comfortable in summer, with no air conditioning. Another advantage is that straw bales absorb noise.”

“Cost isn’t the benefit. The benefit is the house itself.”

So it sure seems. (What we particularly liked about this kind of flexible building was how the owner can put big or little niches around the walls at whim. Niches wide as bookcases or small enough to hold the single book you’re currently reading in bed.)

How much interest is there in this kind of building in Israel?

The renovated Khan of the White Donkey here in Safed consulted me about earth plaster. I understand that sustainable building, including straw-bale, is taught on Kibbutz Lotan in the Arava. I’ve heard of one or two individuals building with straw bale. Most of all, people come from all over the country, all the time, to view my house and talk about straw-bale building.

Thank you, Sarah! Hopefully some of the folks you’ve talked to will be motivated to start their own straw-bale homes.

Sarah Kopp lectures on sustainable architecture and urban agriculture Israel, and may be contacted at sarah@biblicalgarden.com

More sustainable architecture:

700 Year Old Iranian Cave Homes

The Middle East’s “Glass Monsters”

Green Airport in Jordan?

A Visit With Bill and Athena Stein

Photos by Miriam Kresh

The post The strawbale house in Israel appeared first on Green Prophet.

Ten miles from Mexico, nestled in a humid valley in Arizona we arrive in Canelo for a straw bale building workshop. This is a place where 11-year olds drive, breakfast with songstress Linda Ronstadt is not uncommon, and people from all walks of life share a common ground.

The workshop hosts, Bill and Athena Steen are natural building gurus who call their non-profit organization The Canelo Project. They have helped thousands of people locally and around the world build sustainable homes from a low-cost, readily available material: straw bales.

Athena was raised in a New Mexico Pueblo Indian family and witnessed her family building their home from adobe. Bill has been photographing and writing books on alternative buildings for many years. With his small, pantless son Kalin balancing off his hip, Bill tosses me a delicious quesadilla and talks about how peaceful his homestead is:

“Here, [in Canelo] there are several small buildings in various stages that allow you to see, touch and experience many of the materials and techniques that we teach. You will leave inspired – empowered with new possibilities and skills.”

Throughout the week we learned about the advantages of straw bale for the outside environment and the human body.

Strawbale houses hurricane resilient

Contrary to the ‘Little Pigs’ fairytale, buildings made with straw bales are unusually strong and sturdy. Bill says that when a hurricane ravished a barrio in Sonoro, Mexico the only buildings left standing were the ones made of bales.

Straw Bale homes are perfect for places with hot summers and cold winters. The thickness of the walls and the large overhang of a typical straw bale home make the interior cool in the hottest days of summer and warm in the coolest days of winter.

When heating the home, many families attest that a small wood stove is enough for heating the entire home, even in cooler climates, like Canada. So, energy savings by building with straw bale can save heaps of cash in the long run.

“We explore ways of living that connect us to others and the natural world,” says Bill. “Athena and I seek to balance the wisdom and skills of the past with those things which have value today. We combine our efforts with others to create simple, comfortable shelter using local and natural materials with handcrafted care.”

Straw bale homes breathe. Contrary to modern homes built with, bricks, stone and drywall, the straw bale home is alive. Air can pass through the earthen plaster, through the straw, through another layer of earthen plaster to you. As the materials you build with are usually natural and best if local, i.e. no artificial additives to the paints, sealers, insulation, you and your family can breathe toxin-free air.

You can also do it yourself. With basic knowledge on building, gathered from a workshop, books, and the Internet you and yours can put a straw bale home together in no time. You can create niches and rooms that softly embrace you.

The late alternative builder Nader Khalili from California via Iran calls his sleeping enclaves ‘bedwombs.’ Made to nurture the human psyche, the caverns are soft and organic (like people), without modern sharp, square edges.

Straw bale buildings are beautiful. Living inside these spaces can dramatically affect your quality of life. Imagine the difference between living in a home with natural walls that breathe as opposed to being surrounded by cement.

Straw bale homes are low cost

Straw bale homes can be built with less than half the money of traditional homes. There are even those who manage with a few thousand dollars. See testimonials in Bill and Athena’s book “The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes.” Because straw bale building is a ‘new’ concept, homebuilders can host onsite wall raisings where participants will pay to learn more from the hosts.

“Many facets of designing and building a straw bale home are similar to that of building a conventional house,” comments Athena.

“Developing small and efficient straw bale buildings that are well matched to their climate and context and maintain a level of comfort through passive conditioning is a strong focus of our workshop. As are simple and sensible methods and skills that allow for the artistic creation of a uniquely personal and handcrafted home.”

Sounds good. So what are the drawbacks?

Building that suits space and the desert

Straw bale walls are thick. The homeowner can lose considerable floor space or property. For this reason, it is more practical to build in the countryside than in the city, especially in Israel where urban land is scarce.

Another issue to consider is moisture retention. If not properly sealed and maintained, the straw bale home can rot. It is important to maintain the walls and ensure roof overhangs are large enough to prevent moisture buildup. Even in places like Amsterdam and Montreal, healthy happy straw bale homes and institutes are housing people during persistent rain and extreme temperatures and snow. So, it can be done.

In Canelo, we wake every morning to a serene desert landscape, sparse shrub brush and cottonwoods dancing across the meadows.

At an elevation of 1500 meters, altitude and plenty of trees and grasses buffer the usual Arizona heat and dryness. There is a disproportionately large population of frolicking deer. The home-schooled children meld with the landscape and the barefoot boys are by far the best-adjusted and mature kids I’ve ever met. Each day I take a walk with the eldest son, Benito. We discuss philosophy and colors.

The participants come from all walks of life – there were two Christian missionaries working in non-profit organizations, a talent agent from Hollywood, a real estate agent who wanted to sell homes she felt good about, a potter, a carpenter, an ex-advertising agent, a Mennonite parson…all of them had a common dream – to build homes they feel good about.

For more information about building with natural materials, check out the Steen’s website at www.caneloproject.com

More sustainable architecture:

Nader Khalili’s superadobe homes fit for space

Plantware: Fantasies About Building Homes From Living Trees

Want to Start Your Own Desert Commune

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