PEP Badge: Natural Building

natural building
instruction, regulation, insurance, safety, etc

This badge is about building big things. Build experiences with several styles of natural building that work in a cold climate, with the grand finale being a wofati.

Natural building means no plywood, OSB, waferboard, particle board, commercial glues, paints, cements or man-made materials.  Go easy on the dimensional lumber and fasteners.  

Lots of round wood timber framing, cob, dry stack rock, straw bale, clay based paints, adobe, linseed oil, slip straw …

sand badge
(“lloyd list”) do 3 of the following:
   - create 12 adobe bricks 12x6x3
   - make a clay paint and paint a 4x8 area
   - make white wash and use it on a 4x8 area
   - use low grade cob to fill between logs in a wofati - 20 feet
   - create a rock foundation under a skiddable structure to level the structure
   - add 25 square feet of roof (cedar shakes or similar style of wood roof) to a structure


straw badge
complete all the BBs in the “lloyd list”

Find and assess clay sub-soil for making cob/adobe bricks, try different mixes, keep notes, test them to destruction (smash with hammer, toss in fire, etc), choose best mixes.
build a tiny shed on skids
   - 6 feet wide, 3 feet deep, holds garbage cans and some tools and has a bench on the back side
Build a cob sink
(Donkey’s list) complete 2
   - tree stand
   - Build a solar finder, locate true solar south and leave a permanent marker
   - Hang a door using handmade wooden hinges
   - Build garden gate from found or harvested objects
   - Earth plaster a wall, with varying patterns and color
       - Minimum of 7 feet tall, 10 feet long, at least 2 colors and you made the plaster/paints
   - dirt and linseed oil floor
   - Fill Slip/straw (slip/fill) wall
       - Must be minimum 7 feet tall by 8 feet long by 8 inches thick
   - Build short, dry stack rock foundation
   - Build adobe brick and cob bench
       - 2 butts wide minimum
   - Clay paint a room or rooms
       - Make the paint and cover a minimum of 80 linear feet of wall (equivalent to 20X20 room, all walls)

wood badge
Finish the Donkey list
Build operating window, including frame from scratch
straw bale wall in a wofati
home made wood ash cement
   - build one of the following:
       - 5 gallon plant pot
       - 5 gallon water trough
       - combination bird bath and insect watering station
       - 3 flow form water aerators
Build freezer wofati
   - at least 100 square feet of freezer space and at least 100 square feet of root cellar space
Complete One Of:
   - Cob floor
   - wattle and daub wall for a berm shed
   - Lime plaster a wall or set of walls
   - tree house
       - Must be at least 10 feet off the ground, 70 square feet and have 7 feet of head clearance
   - Build a cob bench with a roundpole construction roof.
   - Build adobe doghouse (or faerie house) with Nubian vault roof
   - Cob sun trap
       - Wall is at least 15 linear feet, height at least 6 feet, arched pass through with door or gate
   - a piece of an outdoor classroom with a rumford fireplace

iron badge

build a wofati and live in it for a winter
   - minimum of 200 square feet interior
   - structure must be 100% complete by October 15.   “live in it for a winter” means October 15 to March 20 with being gone for no more than 7 days