To me
a natural building is a building that required the least amount of unhealthy processed material/fossil fuel/energy to build and maintain it. It
should sheds/offgas the least amount of toxins during its life(including repairs). Making it smaller seems to reduce everything out the gate.
The average house seems to consist of :
A. Infill foam insulation
B. Natural lumber post+beam+truss+joist (mostly with abundant/renewable 2x4lumber on 16inch centers)
C. Skins of plastic siding, glue/binder plywood+drywall, asphalt/tar roof, paint.
D. Design selections leading to lots of heat loss and toxic stuff in the air.
What's really so bad about the above? How could we fix each of the issues that we identify in the above default setup? Also what if I built the above normal house out of 100% recycled material from the "dumpster" would it now qualify as a natural building, how about tires for earthship? What if we replace the foam insulation with strawbale/cellulose and drywall/siding/plywood with cob?
Lets explore some of the common solution of natural building with
wood and
earth:
Roof:
wood/lumber+thatched roof,
earth/concrete+optional greenroof,
Walls:
wood/timber log-cabin/strawbale,
earth/earthbag/stone/adobe/cob/brick/concrete,
Floor:
wood/lumber+hardwood floor,
earth/cob/tile/concrete,
Foundation/stemwall: earth/rubble trench/stone/gravelbag/concrete
Which one of the above combination looks do you like the most? (look and or material)
On one extreme I could probably go with a timber log cabin house with thatched roof. On the other hand what if I built the house entirely out of 8ft high by 40ft long and 6inch thick foam, then "stucco" the floor/foundation, roof and internal/external walls with 1.5inch thick ferrocement. Monolithic ferrocement is very strong and the house shell would only have 4 ingredient (sand, cement, steel, foam).
Lets look at some design selections:
1.
MAKE IT SMALLER to reduce how much it takes to make and to maintain.
2.
Bio-char Production/Purchase that will keep carbon out the air for million year to offset
carbon footprint of house
3.
Insulation at R-50 to reduce heat loss + double pane windows, maybe greenroof/earth-sheltered, summer shade
4.
Radiant in-floor heating for thermal Battery, less dust and brunt air, and better humidity and phycological comfort
5.
Heat Pump and humidity control for better phycological comfort esp in summer
6.
ERV/HRV for more
fresh air intake, and to re-use heat/cold, and to
filter the air, vent humid/hot bathroom
7.
On-site energy production via
solar gain from windows,
solar panels, biomass/firewood, etc
8.
On-site energy storage via thermal battery floor, LiFePO4 battery + Inverter, biomass/firewood, etc
9.
Single Wet Wall shared between bathroom+kitchen to reduce pipes and holes in the roof.
10.
Outdoor Living Space with stovetop+oven+grill+sink+fridge and a table+chair and a sofa+firepit, maybe a living pool
11.
Onsite Food Production&Preparation of low toxin/*-cide vegetable/herbs/mushroom/fruits maybe chicken/eggs
12.
Waste Management use less, buy less, buy in bulk, recycle/reuse, aerated or vermicomposting septic system.
13.
Furniture/Cupboard/Table/Sofa/Bed/Clothing made from solid wood, minimal glue, natural fibers, little/no foam.
How would you describe your climate
How big would you like your house to be? (24ft x 36ft, or 100ft x 50ft)
How much time/money/cheap help/etc do you have?
List all the rooms you would like your house to have? (3bedroom, living room, kitchen/dining, bathroom, laundry room)
What must have features would you like it to have? (carport with solar panel roof, 3000sqft workshoop to do your metalwork, greenroof, underground, coconut trees, cob with curvy wall, etc)
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