Building With Awareness:
The Construction of a Hybrid Home

The Award-Winning* DVD Video
On Building Beautiful Homes with
Natural Materials, Including Adobe Bricks
and Earth Plasters

Building With Awareness is filled with information on earth building techniques. Three chapters of this DVD are devoted to the construction of adobe walls, using speed leads for accuracy, mortering techniques with mud, structural reinforcment, multiple ways to construct bond beams, earth plastering techinques and the proper mixes for a weather-resistant finish, beautiful finish coats in earth plaster, and much more. This beautifully photographed how-to DVD will show you how to build straw bale walls for insulation and adobe walls for interior thermal mass (which greatly increases the efficiency of a straw bale home), 100% electrical generation by sunlight, and passive solar heating and cooling. This step-by-step video could save you thousands of dollars in design and construction costs. Beautiful aesthetics and energy-efficiency can both come from the same materials. It is how the structure is designed as a whole that makes the difference. Follow the design and construction of one house - from start to finish - and see how aesthetics, comfort, and energy efficiency can all come from the same materials and design parameters. This video is packed with green design and construction techniques from professionals working on the cutting edge of home building and design in this field. Although the video emphasizes the idea of building small, the concepts can be scaled to any size structure. Whether you are a novice builder or a professional, you will learn about rubble-trench foundations, post-and-beam framing for straw bale walls, adobe wall construction, roof framing, roof insulation, acid-stained concrete floors, rainwater cisterns, gray water plumbing, photovoltaic electrical systems, wiring for straw bale and adobe construction, radiant floor heat, window placement and installation, green materials, and much more.This video is our own production and it is available directly from us or, if you prefer, from Amazon.com.

Price: $35.00

* Recipient of 3 Telly Awards, including the highest award for Outstanding Multimedia DVD. The Telly Awards honor outstanding local, regional, and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions nationwide.

Building With Cob: A Step-by-step Guide

Cob building uses a simple mixture of clay subsoil, aggregate, straw, and water to create solid structural walls, built without shuttering or forms, on a stone plinth. This ancient practice has been used throughout Britain for centuries—in fact, the material is so strong and durable that it is currently in use for forty-five thousand houses in Cornwall, a county in southern England.

Building with Cob covers everything from design, planning, and siting to roofs, insulation, and floors. It is lavishly illustrated with more than three hundred inspirational color photographs. The authors have recently been commissioned to build a thirty-classroom school in England in 2006; it will be the largest new cob construction project in the Western hemisphere.

The Rammed Earth House

The beauty and grace of rammed earth construction is described in fascinating detail by David Easton. The photographs of different structures, both modern and ancient, by Cynthia Wright, create a breathtaking glimpse into a building technique that is as old as human history, but exactly suitable for today's resource-conscious and environmentally friendly building needs. Trees may be getting a bit scarce these days, but there's no current shortage of dirt, the main component of rammed earth homes. From such a prosaic material, gold has been spun in these timeless, graceful, and nearly indestructible homes and buildings.

List Price: $30.00
Current Price: $25.50 (confirm by pressing button)

The Natural Plaster Book
Earth, Lime and Gypsum Plasters for Natural Homes

For builders of natural homes (straw bale, cob, adobe, rammed earth, and other natural materials), this unique step-by-step guide takes the confusion out of choosing, mixing, and applying natural plasters. From principles to practicalities, and with every stage of the process illustrated, The Natural Plaster Book details the entire process of plastering with earth, lime, and gypsum for a long-lasting and durable finish.

List Price:$29.95
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The Hand-Sculpted House: A Philosophical and Practical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage

If you only ever buy one book on cob building make sure it is this book! This book contains everything you can learn about cob without getting your hands dirty. Then it inspires you to go out and get your hands dirty. Everyone who is interested in natural building and ecological design should own a copy of this book. So many new techniques have come along since the first books on cob were published. It is great to have a book with all the new tips and ideas. If you've never heard of cob or if you think you know it all this book has something for everyone. (Amazon review)

List Price: $35.00
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The Cob Builders Handbook

Becky Bee does an EXCELLENT job of outlining the process for building a cob home. At first, I was a bit apprehensive because I am a very visual learner, and I noticed that throughout the book, the diagrams are all hand-drawn. I was concerned that without the actual photographs, I would get stumped on how to construct the house, or that some important idea would not be conveyed in the diagrams. Needless to say, I was wrong! The diagrams that Becky included in the book are all very clear and useful, and super-simple to understand. What I loved most about this book, though, was the very personal and encouraging manner in which she teaches you to build with cob. She gives several great examples in each section regarding inexpensive materials, reducing the strain on your body, and maximizing your creativity to get the cob house of your dreams. I have only owned this book for a little over a week, but I have already read each chapter three times, because it is so quick and easy to understand. You will definitely benefit from the knowledge in this book. (Amazon review)

List Price: $23.95
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