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Throw Out The Solar Panel, Open The Window
Posted on April 22, 2013 by admin in UncategorizedI recently attended the Building Enclosure Council’s meeting on ‘Lessons Learned: A Net Zero Habitat For Humanity Home.’ This was a public meeting where they reviewed the data analysis gathered from the Net Zero Habitat home which was organized through Habitat for Humanity and designed/engineered through the Building Enclosure Council. Many steps were taken to create [...]
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Workshops are Painful
Posted on March 27, 2013 by admin in UncategorizedWorkshops are painful. Workshops are hard. The planning, prepping, organizing, moving heavy materials, lugging salvaged cinder blocks from one place to another, shoveling sand and clay, teaching and talking nonstop for 2 days, running from tarp to tarp….and then the clean up. Ohhhhh the clean up. Then there’s all the expectations that I want [...]
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From One Building Inspector To The Rest: On Natural Building
Posted on March 6, 2013 by admin in UncategorizedThis is an except from the book, ‘Going Green, With The International Building Code’ written by Scott Caufield. He’s a Building Inspector who wrote this book as a guide to using the IRC in a ‘green’ kind of way. At the end of his book, he wrote this excerpt below. Please feel free to use [...]
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50 Most Progressive 2013: The Dirt Queen
Posted on March 3, 2013 by admin in UncategorizedThis year’s Charlie Mag edition of ‘Charleston’s 50 Most Progressive 2013′ has recognized the Dirt Queen and Natural Building!!! It’s exciting to see South Carolina embracing Natural Building!!!
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An All-Natural Classroom in Nicaragua
Posted on February 7, 2013 by admin in UncategorizedLast year, I went to Sabana Grande, Nicaragua to take part in a 2 week Natural Building workshop led by Liz Johndrow of Earthen Endeavors. We lived and worked in a very small, rural village in northern Nicaragua. In the workshop we worked with the women of the village to teach them Natural Building skills [...]
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Natural Building in Rural South Carolina
Posted on November 26, 2012 by admin in UncategorizedCross, SC (1 hr. from Charleston) April Magill, Root Down Designs + Elder Carlie Towne, Gullah/Geechee Angel Network & Elder in the Gullah/Geechee Nation December 2011 Crossing Cultures & Creating Community Through Natural Building Thank you Hunter McRae for the beautiful images! View the entire album here; [...]
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A Cob Renovation in South Carolina
Posted on November 20, 2012 by admin in UncategorizedA Cob, Earthen Plaster, Lime Plaster, Wine Bottle Renovation to an existing Cinder Block Home……. view the entire story here; from start to finish; click on the first image to start…(all photos by April Magill & Andrew Cebulka)
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Florida’s Going Green: Permaculture, Natural Building, & More!
Posted on November 13, 2012 by admin in UncategorizedThis past weekend, I taught a Natural Building workshop in Jacksonville, FL. Lucky for me, I went down there to teach, and returned feeling like I was the one who learned so much! Here’s just a taste…. After leaving Charleston, I stopped in Beaufort, SC to meet with a man who is interested in building [...]
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Repairing & Plastering an Earthen Oven
Posted on October 29, 2012 by admin in UncategorizedThe House of Many Unfinished Projects is where I live. Being an Architect & a Natural Builder, the creative side of me is always having new ideas; starting a new project, or experimenting with something new. Often times, it’s not long before my next ‘great idea!’ comes along and there I go….leaving behind the unfinished work for [...]
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Add a Little Sparkle To Your Walls: How to Make a Natural Wall Glaze
Posted on October 21, 2012 by admin in UncategorizedThere are many natural & easy methods for making a glaze, or a clay paint, or a glue-coat finish for your walls; many of these methods are used to ‘finish out’ an earthen plaster (clay plaster); to add a level of shine and to protect the wall….much like we would ‘polyurethane’ a wooden deck or [...]
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