Domes in ThailandAll About ClayPainting with RockSustainable Building Essentials Book Reviews

$10.00 USD Issue #70 Spring 2017

PUBLISHER

EDITOR

ISSUE LAYOUT

WEB HOST

GRAPHICS

PRINTER

Odisea LLCJeff RuppertSatomi LanderSustainable SourcesMorninglori Graphic DesignPublication Printers

On the cover:

Submission GuidelinesCopy should be created using Times New Roman font, 11 pt, no bold, no colors, no underlining except for web sites, and no indentations for paragraphs. Don’t take time to reformat copy you receive from others; we can do that here. We’ve set up some format, spelling and other rules we could share upon request.

Word Count – with 30 pt heading• 900 words fills one page• 500 words with two photos fills one page• 700 words with one photo fills one page• 1000 words with two photos fills two pages

If several photos are used in an article and captions are added to the photos, the space for text will be reduced accordingly.

Submission DeadlinesDecember 1, March 1, June 1 and September 1. Please note that the story deadlines are important to our production schedule. Text and photos may be sent by surface mail or electronically to the TLS editorial office. For complete submission guidelines for articles and photos, see our web site at thelaststraw.org.

Contact the editorial office for information and input regarding issue topics and content development, ideas for articles and issue design and other advice, encouragement, complaint or controversy.

The Last Straw is printed entirely on recycled content paper, using soy-based inks.

The Last Straw is a quarterly journal documenting the natural building world. It was formed in 1993 to address the lack of public information about straw bale construction and has grown to cover all related topics. We are reader-supported, meaning we rely on raw stories from the field.

The Last Straw is produced quarterly. For subscriptions and address changes, back issue orders, printing and distribution, promotion, classified advertising and the calendar of events please visit our website at thelaststraw.org.

Donated articles and photographs are always and sincerely welcome on any topic relating to straw-bale and natural building. Letters to the Editor are also encouraged. Remember, your input is what keeps TLS up-to-date, functional and relevant! We work with offerings respectfully, though we may have to edit, postpone or decline their use. The Last Straw team reserves editorial responsibility for the content of the journal.

TLS Editorial Office: Jeff RuppertEditorPO Box 1809 Paonia CO 81428(970) 704-5828TLSEditor@thelaststraw.org

© The Last StrawISSN# 1077-997332.

Dome under construction in Thailand.Photo by Maggi McKerron

The Last Straw • No. 70 Spring 2017 5

Editor’s NoteC O N T E N T S

Editor’s Note

The Mysteries and Properties of Clay by James Henderson

Mountains and Domes: A B&B in Thailand Built Using Rice Husks by Maggi McKerron

Building an Energy Efficient Straw Bale Home: Design Criteria for Inglewood Straw Bale by Brian Hodge Painting with Rock by Dustin Jepson

How to Build an Earthship Wall by Hannah Moloney

Book Reviews by Jeff Ruppert

• Essential Hempcrete Construction

• Essential Building Science • Prefab Straw Bale Construction

Events and Human Resources on the Back Cover

The views expressed by our authors do not necessarily represent our own. We retain the right to edit, change or refuse to print submitted content. All submissions become the property of The Last Straw. And remember, safety is of the highest priority on construction projects.

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ANOTHER BUILDING SEASON is beginning here in the Northern Hemisphere and there is much to talk about.

Change is in the air wherever you look these days. From politics to the climate. The only thing that is consistent seems to be the unexpected. And this includes TLS.

As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve been missing our regular publishing schedule for about a year, which I take full responsibility for. Turns out, a three-year old, a consulting engineering firm and a second job managing a very successful solar consulting firm for Solar Energy International will suck just about every last ounce of extra time you thought you had. It’s time to move on and turn the reigns over to someone with a little more time on their hands. it’s also way past time to acknowledge my beautiful, loving wife and business partner, Lucy Hunter, who has allowed me to try all of this at once, and who has encouraged and patiently participated along the way.

I’d now like to introduce you to Cherie Peacock, your new captain. Cherie is well-versed in natural building and will bring the publication back on schedule, amongst other things. What I’m sure will remain the same is more wonderful stories from the wide world of natural building. Cherie introduces herself on the next page. We hope you will reach out and share your stories or just say hello as she takes over.

In more pragmatic matters, we’re planning to have a meaningful conversation with the insurance industry here in Colorado. Due to the hard work of the California Straw Building Association (CASBA), who has paved the way for us to break the ice with folks here in our state, we’ve made contact and intend to do some real outreach. Look for a future article on the subject as we use leverage created by Appendix S in the International Residential Code. All of this activity has the potential to break us loose from the mis-perceptions surrounding straw bale construction that have existed in the insurance industry for way too long. If you’d like to take a peek at what CASBA did for everyone, follow this link: https://underwriting.ig.cpcusociety.org/news/strawbale-construction-takes-leap-forward-irc-appendix-s

As far as upcoming events, there are a number of really cool workshops that you will find listed on our back cover from natural building boot camps to permaculture. There is also the Natural Builders North East annual gathering happening from March 24th to the 26th in Randolph, New York.

And finally, as this is my last issue, I would like to thank you

as supporters of this great little magazine and ramble a little bit. None of this would be here without you and the dedicated professionals who keep the natural building world vibrant. As far as where we were and where we’re going, well, here’s a quick take on the past present and future.

TLS began 26 years ago as a very small publication that gathered alot of momentum quickly due to it’s transparent nature and the fact that it fulfilled many peoples yearning to learn more about a really cool and literally fuzzy way of building walls of straw. TLS inspired passion in many of us to take big risks. We were so inspired that we became plasterers overnight and were forced to learn about building science to avoid catastrophic failures. All of this was documented by TLS in those early years and it was nothing short of amazing.

Over the last two decades we have witnessed straw bale construction take its place alongside so many other forms of natural building. What used to be a “ladder” technology, helping people climb aboard the natural building wagon, straw bale construction is much more mature now and is typically used where it is most appropriate on each project. It is part of a toolbox, and that toolbox is pretty cool these days. And TLS has evolved to embrace the larger natural building movement.

The next generation of natural buildings will include pre-fabricated bale wall systems as they are used to drive down prices and increase applicability to more projects, which is an encouraging development. After the recession of 2008 it is a great “shot in the arm” to our little industry as many builders of the past moved on to other things. We need innovation to keep things moving forward and to attract the interest of tomorrows innovators. And TLS is here documenting it all as it always has.

So with that I look forward to seeing many of you on projects or at conferences in the years to come. I’m sure TLS will continue to create a sense of community that we all enjoy.

I wish you the best of luck on all of your projects.

Cheers! - Jeff Ruppert

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6 The Last Straw • No. 70 Spring 2017 The Last Straw • No. 70 Spring 2017 7

Editor’s NoteHi Everyone!

I will be the new owner/editor of The Last Straw Journal starting with edition #71 so please let me introduce myself. First off, I am a natural material junkie, which I suppose comes from being addicted to nature and the outdoors. I grew up in the United States in Michigan’s rural Upper Peninsula next to wilderness and about an hour ’s drive south of Lake Superior. It is a place of “big nature” with long, harsh winters and where residents have a vibrant partnership with local lakes and forests and a strong sense of self-sufficiency.

I d i d n o t s t r a y f a r f rom home to go to college and at tended Michigan Technological Un ive r s i t y t o s t udy c i v i l / e n v i r o n m e n t a l e n g i n e e r i n g . U p o n graduation, I found my way to Southeast Alaska and the beginning of a career with the US Forest Service. It was while working as an engineer in a natural resource management agency that my interest in sustainability and natural building crystallized. Eventually I nourished that interest and studied architecture at Washington State University. I researched occupant emotional responses to homes incorporating renewable natural resources such as straw bale, earth, wood, and passive solar.

Fourteen years ago, the same time I was studying natural building, I lived in a load-bearing, passive solar, straw bale home. We did not build our straw bale house, but purchased it as a new spec home. It was constructed by a local governmental organization in Spokane, Washington to demonstrate a use for waste straw from nearby agriculture. Our straw bale house led to my participation in the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild, a number of natural building workshops as well as discovery of The Last Straw Journal. I subscribed, read every edition from cover to cover, and even wrote an article once. I lost track of the Journal when I moved to serve as the sustainability coordinator for the University of Montana but happily rediscovered it a couple years ago.

My husband and I now live in the Bitterroot Valley of western Montana in a conventional house that we are remodeling. We often comment how much we miss our passive solar, straw bale house but we are working to incorporate natural materials where we can. It is a long process, and I often struggle with material

selection when marrying to existing construction. There is so much existing building stock in need of reconstruction that this is a worthwhile challenge to learn from.

Now that you know me a little better, it’s your turn. To thrive as a useful publication, The Last Straw relies on stories from people doing the hands on work of natural building. It is your stories that help others and it is though your stories that we met you and the place where you live. I

believe this is an important time for people around the world to connect and understand each other better. So if you have a project or an idea you would like to share with The Last Straw community, please contact me. Information on how to submit articles is on the website, thelaststraw.org, and my contact information is below.

Jeff Rupert did an amazing job reviving The Last Straw Journal, to give it a beautiful website and a solid foundation. Through the Journal, I look forward to working with him, and you, to make the world a little better, one natural building project at a time.

Sincerely,

Cherie Peacock, PESoon-to-be EditorPO Box 1406Florence, MT 59870406-274-7721TLSEditor@thelaststraw.org

8 The Last Straw • No. 70 Spring 2017 The Last Straw • No. 70 Spring 2017 9

Materials

The mysteries of clay and its use in construction continue to fascinate me. My first exposure to houses made of earth was the mud brick homes of Central Victoria, Australia. The seemingly improbable, yet beautiful, hand-built homes changed my life’s path forever. Twenty years later, I have had the pleasure to work on numerous earth and straw homes. A happy day for me is working with the gifts of sand, straw and clay. Clay-based plasters have become my obsession over the years and are something that I derive much of my income from blending and applying. Still, the mysteries of clay have been slow to reveal themselves to me. In this article I discuss some of those mysteries and attempt to broaden the discussion amongst earth builders everywhere. Please feel free to contact me with questions, contradictions, or your own personal experiences.

Clay is considered to be material smaller than 0.002mm (Minke 2000). Not a very romantic vision of such an incredible building material. These very small particles are typically disc or hexagonal in shape, like little dinner plates. The disks have an electric charge that make them function like magnets. When dry, all the negatively charged sides of the disks cling to positively charged sides of another clay disk next to them. This function gives the clay a binding force.

The addition of water separates the disks far enough apart to weaken the electric charge. When the water dries, the charge is re-activated, binding the clay back together. Thus clay is in a constant state of flux and never sets. The miracle is that when sand and straw are added to clay it maintains a solid state that can function as a high performance building material for centuries.

The other amazing property of clay is that it is “able to absorb and desorb humidity faster and to a higher extent than all other building materials.” (Minke 2000) This fact and physics means that clay balances indoor humidity. Studies conducted by The Building Research Institute in Kassel, Germany have shown that the indoor relative humidity of earth buildings is maintained at 50%. (Minke 2000) Many other beneficial qualities of earthen construction are outlined in Gernot Minke’s book “Earth Construction Handbook”.

Two facts form the basis for what I have come to know from many years of working with clay as a building material:

• Water is the key. • How and when we use water depends on what we are

trying to achieve. Starting at the beginning, I will discuss selecting and

processing clay into a useable form. Then I will move on to the

Materials

application of clay-based plaster, then finish with a discussion of re-hydration of clay plaster.

When selecting clay for building, visual observation is a good place to start. Most likely the clay will be found in subsoil, the soil lying just beneath topsoil. Subsoil will be a mixture of clay, silt and sands. Ideally the subsoil will have been excavated and heaped in a pile. If so, an initial test is done as we can then see how the subsoil clumps and how those clumps resist erosion. This is a helpful simple binding ability and erosion test. It will also indicate a basic grading of the subsoil as the rain erodes the clumps which are naturally produced cob or adobe. If you can pick up a clump the size of a grapefruit without it breaking, you have pretty good instant cob. If it falls apart, there may be too much aggregate in the subsoil, or it may be too wet. Evidence of cracking in the clumps will also show decent clay content. The longer the excavated subsoil is out of the ground the better, as it gives a longer time for the erosion test. If the clumps can survive out in the rain with little sign of erosion, it will be a suitable building material as this shows very strong electrical bonds between the clay disks.

From this initial observation we can move into producing clay slip. The production of clay slip is a conscious decision by the earth builder to loosen the electrical bonds between the disks. Once achieved, other materials can be combined with the clay disks to create building products. Upon drying, the electrical bonds will bind the clay and the introduced materials together into whatever building product we are creating. Some clay subsoils are quite happy to be mixed with water, others not so much. Generally, the easier it is to make the slip, the more prone to water damage and erosion the dried building material will be. Conversely, the harder it is to mix the subsoil into slip, the stronger and more water resistant the dried building material will be. Some of the best building clays need to be mechanically crushed before they will mix with water. It is worth noting that this does not take into account swelling and shrinkage of different clays. But typically the more a clay swells, the stronger the binding force of the clay as it dries. Slip can be mixed in a bucket with a drill and mixer attachment, or a specifically designed slip machine.

It is believed to be best practice to use clay slip when producing building products, but earth-building materials can be produced from dry clay subsoils as well. In this case, the water in the mix loosens the bonds at the time the material is made. It is generally considered to be an inferior approach, as all of the electrical bonds are not loosened, resulting in less binding force in the end. Is this a problem? Perhaps sometimes, but many successful projects suggest it is not always the case.

The Mysteries and Properties of ClayThe Mysteries and Properties of Clay

by James Henderson

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Materials MaterialsOnce the clay slip has been produced and a suitable plaster

mix formulated, application of the plaster can commence. The plaster consists of clay, aggregate, often fibre, and water. The water is doing the job of keeping the clay disks, our binder, evenly spaced throughout the plaster. As soon as the water begins to leave the plaster, the disks will start to bind. Where does the water go? First, the water will slowly evaporate. Second, the suction of the substrate on the wall will pull water from the plaster. As the water gets sucked into the substrate some of the clay will get carried with it, into the substrate. This is a very important point. Depending on what we are trying to achieve, we can manipulate the suction of the wall and plaster clay content to achieve the best outcomes. Different substrates have different suction rates and if there is no suction, the clay plaster will not sufficiently bond with the substrate. It is important for the plaster to get sucked into the substrate and fuse with it. Since clay does not ever set, the new plaster will physically become one with the substrate, as long as it fuses with it. As some of the clay in the plaster will get sucked out, we may elect to have higher clay content in the plaster than is necessary for stabilization of the plaster to accommodate this fact. Conversely, misting the substrate with water before applying the plaster will take away a lot of the suction. In this case, fewer clay disks will get integrated with the substrate and theoretically you will have a weaker bond. Is this a problem when applying clay plaster to a clay wall? Hard to say, as once dry, the whole will be one. Thus the use of water in clay plastering depends on the situation. Clay slip is sometimes

used instead of mist to moisten a wall before plastering. This fulfils the same function as having higher clay content in the plaster. Using clay slip instead of water is beneficial when the substrate is excessively silty or when applying plaster to straw bales or light straw clay. When trying to get a really strong bond for repairs or upside down work, the substrate is not misted. The plaster also has higher clay content than is needed. When applying a finish coat plaster over an earth substrate, the wall may be misted to slow down the suction and give the plasterer more time to finish the work. Another way of getting more time to finish the plaster is to do two applications of plaster, one after the other. The first coat of the “Wet in Wet” approach takes care of most of the suction; this means that the second coat has greatly improved workability. One should be careful. If too much water is applied, the clay will reach saturation point and slumping of the plaster will occur.

Once the plaster has started to dry it is usually polished or compressed. This is necessary because the water that was required to separate the electrical charges has left microscopic voids in the plaster as is dissipates. The voids create weakness in the plaster and compressing closes up the voids, making a stronger end result. Timing of compression is important. Too soon and clay will be pulled out of the plaster and to the surface. This may weaken the bond of the plaster to the substrate and pull the plaster apart. Too late and no compression will occur. In this case, more water is added with mist or a sponge to try to remedy the situation. This is a basic form of re-hydration.

Re-hydration of plaster is a technique used to repair and finish off clay plasters after they have dried. Re-hydration can be used to eliminate slump cracks and even a poor finish. Most often, re-hydration is used when repairing clay plasters. The idea is too add enough water to the plaster until the electrical bonds loosen, then the plaster will react like it did when first applied. Using this approach, repairs can be made to a clay-plastered wall. When the repairs are dry, the area around the repair can be re-hydrated or the whole wall re-hydrated. In this way, the repairs will literally become part of the existing plaster and invisible. Re-hydration is achieved through misting the clay plaster multiple times. A water sprayer or fine hose is used and water is applied to the wall until just before the clay plaster starts running down the wall. The wall has only so much suction. Try to mist too much, and you end up with erosion. So just before erosion occurs, move to a new area. Mist the whole area, or wall, and wait for 5 minutes. Then repeat the process, and wait another 5 minutes. The number of times the wall needs misting depends on the clay in the plaster and the plaster mix. Three to four times are

normally necessary. By the fourth time, the surface of the plaster should be soft. Ideally the top 1/8th inch will move when a finger is pressed into it. At this point, a sponge or sponge float is used to re-shape the plaster before a finishing trowel is used to re-finish the surface.

As clay never sets we have the ability to use water to manipulate it. The amount of water used, coupled with the suction of the clay, allows us to maximise the benefits of using clay as a building material. No other building product is so infinitely recyclable and repairable. Once the mysteries of clay have been revealed to you, anything is possible.

James Henderson has built straw and earth homes for clients in Australia and the USA. Working as a full time General Contractor in Washington State USA, James can be contacted at (360) 460-3484 or naturalbuildingsupplies@zoho.com.

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Materials

This article first appeared in The Owner Builder 192 December 2015/ January 2016. www.theownerbuilder.com.au

Ten years ago I fell in love with a mountain. Mt Chiang Dao rises 2173 metres out of the forests of northern Thailand, its jungle covered peaks dressed in swirls of clouds. I leased a piece of land on a small hill facing the mountain. Under half a hectare, the land slopes down to a small rural Thai village under the mountain, clustered around the nationally famous Chiang Dao Cave.

Planning a B&BI was approaching upper middle age and realized I needed

to make some sort of plan for older age when my life might possibly slow down a little. This piece of land would be perfect for a B&B!

I did not have the money to develop the land, so I took off for the UK to make some. Although I am British, I was born in India and have always lived in Asia. Going to the UK to work was a challenging experience, as I had to learn to live in a western culture for the first time, at the age of 56.

While in the UK I took the opportunity to study natural building, beginning with an inspirational earthbag building

workshop taught by Paulina Wojciechowska, author of the first book on earth-bag building. Making a dome out of earthbags sold me on domes and round dwellings. I was determined to build round domes back in Thailand!

MaterialsRice husks

But using earth as the building material did not sit right with me. I am mildly asthmatic and need dry air and did not relish the thought of being enclosed in an earthen dome during six months of monsoon rains. I thought about rice husks. This is a product that no one wants. It takes ages to break down if added to compost, and is difficult to burn. It is also a desiccant, which means that it will draw moisture out of the atmosphere. Perfect!

After seven years in the UK I finally had enough money to return to Thailand. At least I hoped it was enough. There was no way I could calculate the costs of the buildings in any detail, as I did not really know how I was going to build my rice husk domes. I couldn’t find any information on the internet: no plans available, no books on building with rice husks. I worked out a financial guesstimate, which I finally reached in savings, and I bought a one way ticket back to Thailand.

My beautiful land was covered in towering brush and it was not until a team of machete wielding villagers cleared it that I discovered how steeply it sloped. What a challenge this was going to be!

I should mention here that where I was building, out in the scarcely populated countryside, planning permission, although preferred by the local council, was not an issue. In towns and cities I would have had to submit plans. My local council signed off the building after it was finished.

Beginning the buildReady to begin my adventure, I posted on social media

that I would welcome anyone who would like to help with the project, and people turned up. I hired some local day labourers from the village. We found the flattest area, at the top of the property, and one of the first steps was to pre-pare for a concrete base. I had been warned by locals that the termites were ferocious and there really was no alternative to concrete.

We marked out a circle 5.5 metres in diameter with some bamboo stakes. Then we got some tubing and filled it with water, and tried to find a level. No one believed what the water in the tubes was telling us, so I went and bought a spirit level. This confirmed the water’s message; there was still a big slope, even though compared with the rest of the land it looked practically flat. Leveling the area was our first task.

My very rough plan showed a concrete cap on the dome, as this was all I could think of to keep out the monsoon rain, so our next task was putting up six concrete posts to carry the weight of the concrete cap. Then the base of sub soil and stones went in, pounded flat

by enthusiastic volunteers, a trellis of bamboo for strengthening, a sheet of plastic as a damp proof membrane to stop moisture leaching upward, some sand and

a final topping of concrete.

The domeNow I needed to seriously consider the dome. I could not for the life of me work out how to construct it. Unlike earthbags, which are load bearing and could support a concrete cap, I was working with lightweight, not at all solid, bags of rice husks. I spent ages in hardware stores, second-hand wood shops and looking through books. I asked various local builders, but one after the other they shook their heads, mystified with the ideas of the crazy foreign lady.

At one point I decided to forget the dome and just build a hexagonal roof using the steel for conventional roof frames. One of the volunteers said: ‘But Maggi, your dream is a dome. You must follow your dream.’ So I thought again.

Bird cageI found reinforced steel rods, rebar, bend-able and long. I

could buy quite thick pieces and long enough to go from one side of a dome to the other. First a piece of rebar was bent into a circle to go around the building, sitting on the top of the concrete posts. Then up went the rebar making the dome shape and we wired it onto the posts and horizontal rebar. Using different thicknesses of rebar and adding bamboo we made a dome shaped trellis.

The bamboo for the trellis in the dome came from bamboo poles we harvested from the land. These we cut and prepared and wove as needed. We used the same trellis idea for the walls, and our bags of rice husks would be attached to this frame. The whole thing looked like a giant bird cage!

The windows and doors were added as we built the bamboo trellis. This was complicated as the walls were going to be quite thick, so windows and doors needed frames to sit in. We learned as we went along. At no point in the building did we use any electrical tools – there was no electricity!

Mountains and Domes: A B&B in Thailand Built Using Rice HusksMountains and Domes: A B&B in Thailand Built Using Rice Husks

by Maggi McKerron

Earthbag B&B Weaving the bamboo

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Rice husk wallsFilling in the walls came next. I found a place that sold

second-hand polypropylene bags and had bought several hundred. Then I found a rice mill that agreed to fill the bags for me with their waste husks, 200 a week. These we had been collecting in preparation.

The first layer of bags was filled with gravel to guard against water and moisture damaging the walls, with a layer of sand on top of that, then the bags filled with rice husks. We experimented with different types of string, and different knots and found the method that worked best. They went up quickly and easily in a couple of days, and soon we were at the level where the curve of the dome began.

The bags were too big. They would be too unwieldy and heavy to attach. We had to empty them, refill them with less rice husks, then tie them up in the shape of a sausage. Our sausages were quite complicated to put up as we were attaching them to the inside of the dome to continue the inside line of the walls.

The dome looked wonderful! The next step was to put on the concrete cap. We used plastic sheet covered with chicken wire and put the concrete on top. We made deep overhangs to protect the walls.

Mud renderThe last step was the mud on the walls. It took a while to

perfect our recipe as putting plaster on bags of rice husks is not the same as putting it onto earthbags or straw bales. The bags were not solid, so plaster had to be built up slowly in several layers until it was firm and strong. Then a final layer of lime plaster, followed by some decorations, and our dome was finished!

The big lesson I learned was never to put a concrete cap on a dome in the kind of climate found in Thailand. It cracked, and cracked again! But because the rice husks dry out so easily it has not caused any lasting problems. The second lesson was to attach the bags to the outside of the dome trellis. Much easier!

Three years have gone by since the beginning of the adventure. I have three domes and five roundhouses with thatched roofs. All the buildings with their thick walls of

rice husks covered with earthen plaster are cool in summer and warm in winter. I have a beautiful home, made from three of the five metre roundhouses, joined by thatched walkways. My B&B is up and running. And every day and all day I can see my mountain. My dream has come true.

Maggi will be running a roundhouse building workshop in November 2017. See website for de-tails: www.chiangdao-roundhouses.com

Links & resources

Maggie’s BlogSharing her adventures of living – and building –

in Chiang Dao, northern Thailand.maggimck.wordpress.com

Chiang Dao RoundhousesSet on the side of a hill overlooking the

spectacular Mt Chiang Dao, offering rice husk workshops and B&B accommodation.

www.chiangdao-roundhouses.com

The “birdcage”

Creating the frame

Almost done!

Finished dome

Building up the plaster

Another coat of render Sculptural render

Home sweet home

Decorative opportunity

Materials Materials

16 The Last Straw • No. 70 Spring 2017 The Last Straw • No. 70 Spring 2017 17

DesignBuilding an Energy Efficient Straw Bale Home: Design Criteria for Inglewood Straw Bale by Brian Hodge

This article first appeared in The Owner Builder 196 August/September 2016. www.theownerbuilder.com.au

As we embark on our 20th owner-built home, I reflect back over the progress since purchasing property last year.

We were surprised the property didn’t have power, sewer, or water but discovered it actually had sewer connection just over the back fence. We were somewhat pleased when we received the quote for electricity connection of $5,050. Mind you, that did not include the connection of the power to our meter box.

Having mentioned the meter box, I am flooded with the memory of its incorrect positioning in my unavoidable absence and the challenges that we were faced with as a consequence (see TOB 195 June/July 2016). But who can complain. The end result was that we have revisited the design and now have a better one that is more interesting. And who can forget the bonus sewer connection at the back of the block, which will save us around $10,000 that we would have spent for a septic system.

A place to run coursesWhen we first went looking for land our primary motivation

was to get a low cost piece of land on which we could run the practical part of our owner-builder straw bale building workshops. This was a precursor to being willing to sell the straw bale house in Ladys Pass. To be a straw bale building consultant with nowhere to do courses and nothing to show people was not an option and the solution had to make financial sense.

Consequently, I did an internet search for ‘land under $50,000 Victoria.’ The result was land in Loch Sport, which was too small and, from previous experience, has too many mosquitoes, and land in Inglewood, Victoria. Inglewood is in central Victoria about 35 minutes north of Bendigo with a population of a bit over 1,000. It was established in 1859 and is still a great place to find gold. It has a good supermarket,

Designhospital, permanent doctor, pharmacy and most important, a couple of good old fashioned pubs for great meals. It is also the town where my youngest son, his wife and two of my grandchildren are located. However, the criteria were primarily price and size.

There was an 8000m2 block for around $45,000 near a light industrial area, a 2000m2 for $70,000 or a 1000m2 for $35,000. We put in an offer of $33,000 on the last block, which was accepted.

Position, position…The only issue, which was a big one, was its orientation. It

is only 20 metres wide and faces north-west. In order to control heat input and get some passive solar benefit in the design, we had to design a house that is twisted on the property. This option consumes a lot of land, which was complicated by our need for wide eaves for a straw bale house. Regulations stipulate that living area windows must have a minimum of 1000mm of clear sky from the boundary, which meant that we had to be set in from the side boundary a minimum of 1900mm to allow for the 900mm eaves. We also needed truck access to the backyard to take deliveries of bales etc. for workshops, further restricting our build space.

We finally settled on the concept of building a U shaped house with a central courtyard as this would enable us to get passive solar benefit in the master bedroom and living area. Not a huge amount, but enough to make a difference. It also provided us with a outdoor private area, which is important to us as we have lived on country properties for the past 12 years.

Energy ratingI had our energy assessors check

to see what difference this adjusted orientation would make on stage one of the construction, as opposed to building parallel to the front boundary. We were surprised that the energy rating actually went up from 5.4 stars to 6.3 stars even though there is only one window that faces north.

As we are building in central Victoria, the energy rating is primarily directed toward the energy required for winter heating. However, we get some really nasty weather in summer with temperatures reaching high 30s and even mid 40s. Consequently the design criteria also included

resistance to summer heat. The central courtyard faces due west, however it has a deep verandah to protect smallish windows from the afternoon heat from the west, and the windows facing east are limited.

One of the big concerns for restricting heat input in summer is to avoid doors that open directly into the house from the north, as it is the north wind that brings high temperatures to the area. I have therefore included a good size entry on the northern end of the house with the external door facing east, which will dramatically reduce the impact of those hot northerly winds.

Airflow manipulationThe cooler summer breezes often come from the south-east,

so we have included casement windows on the south-eastern boundary to funnel those cool breezes through the house. The benefit of correctly hinged casement windows is that they tend to trap the breeze and funnel it into the house rather than simply working with straight airflow. When you are trying to get cool air into your home it is best to open the windward windows fully but

First box truss

U-shaped floor plan Ring beam and kitchen ceiling

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Designclose the windows on the opposite side of the house to 50%, as this creates a vacuum resulting in greater airflow.

As this is a residential block I expect that airflow will be a bit of a challenge as we have boundary fences which will restrict it. I have also incorporated a flat ceiling in part of the house in order to accommodate ducting for an air circulation pump to force the early morning cool air through the house if the temperature in the house is higher than the temperature outside. Our previous straw bale house in Ladys Pass had the same issue, which was overcome using an evaporative cooler as an air circulation pump. The cooling function of the unit was hardly ever used, and would not have been missed, so I am planning on simply fitting an air pump this time.

The master bedroom window faces north onto the central courtyard, however the window is not within the shadow of the verandah roof so we will get good passive solar benefit in winter. It also means that we have a private outlook, and with Molly, our big guard dog, we are assured of security! (Molly is a miniature Maltese Shiatsu)

As this is house number 20 for us personally, it was difficult to find something a bit different to do, so we eventually settled on a curved roof with a curved ceiling. This will be achieved by building box trusses on site. It is a very cost effective method of roof construction and I am looking forward to trying it out, as I have never done it before.

With all the design, engineering and building permit issues behind us it is now time to get to work and build it. I am going to take my time and enjoy the process as I suspect this will be the last home that I build, although many people scoff at this idea, thinking that I am either crazy for building so many or that I am addicted to the process. Personally I am not sure, but I am going to enjoy this project as if it is my last.

Brian Hodge is the director of Anvill Straw Bale Building Consultants. He has nearly 40 years experience in the building trade, and now consults predominantly on straw bale construction. Brian is the author of ‘Building your straw bale home’ and will be blogging about his build. Anvill Straw Bale Building Consultants: Whether you are building a mansion or to a strict budget, we are here to help. www.straw-bale-houses.com

Materials

It is common knowledge that trapping moisture inside the walls of a straw bale structure is a recipe for disaster – for this reason, mineral based paints are the ideal choice.

Mineral based paints are completely different than standard acrylic/latex based paints. They do not stick to the surface and form a film that traps moisture inside the wall. Rather, they soak into the surface and bond to the inside through a chemical reaction (silicification). Instead of being a coating that is adhered to the wall, they become part of the wall itself. Because they are comprised of greater than 95% natural minerals, mineral based paints are completely breathable and will never trap moisture in the wall.

Key Advantages of Mineral paints: • Breathable • Waterproof • Natural, matte finish • Durable • Inhibit the growth of mildew • Environmentally friendly • Zero VOC and non-toxic

When choosing a paint for your straw bale home/building, no characteristic is more important than breath-ability. Every paint product has a perm rating which measures the vapor permeability of the coating – typical acrylic/latex based

coatings have a perm rating of 1-7. More advanced acrylic/latex paints that claim to be breathable reach 15-20 on the perm scale. Mineral based paints typically have a perm rating of 75 or higher – significantly higher than other coatings on the market.

The high breath-ability is due to the microcrystalline structure of mineral based paints – when viewed through a microscope, the coating appears to have millions of tiny holes. These holes are not large enough for a water drop to pass through, but are big enough for a vapor molecule to escape. Thus, mineral paints will prevent water ingress but will never trap moisture on the inside of the wall. These claims have been proven by test results from numerous manufacturers and is often referred to as micro-porosity.

During the summer months, a cementitious wall painted with standard acrylic/latex paints will heat up during the day. The heated exterior will attract moisture in the wall causing it to migrate to the surface. Upon hitting the back of the vapor impermeable coating the moisture will be trapped and will begin to apply pressure on the backside of the coating. As the pressure builds, water sacks or blisters will appear in the coating. Eventually they will burst and this leads to cracking/peeling and failure of the coating. This will never happen with mineral paints as they will not trap the moisture in the wall.

Durability was the underlying motivation for the invention of mineral based paints in the mid-late 1800s. After viewing

Painting with Rockby Dustin Jepson, PermaTint Limited, Concord, ON, Canada

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Materials

the beautiful lime frescoes of Northern Italy, King Ludwig I. of Bavaria began applying similar paints to the buildings of his kingdom. With a much harsher winter season in Bavaria (Northern Alps) the paints quickly failed and he ordered his team of scientists to develop a paint that would last in their climate. Mineral paints were invented and their durability is proven by buildings in Europe that were painted in the 1890s and have never had any maintenance (The city hall in Schwyz, Switzerland and Gasthaus Weiber Adler in Stein am Rhein, Switzerland as well as others in Oslo and Germany). Since their invention, mineral based paints have been used widely across Europe and are understood to be the superior coating for exterior building surfaces. This knowledge has not transferred to North America as well where many builders/architects are unaware of their benefits.

Chemistry is at the heart of the incredible durability possessed by mineral based paints – while standard acrylic/latex paints rely on organic binders which decay over time, mineral paints bond through crystallization of the inorganic mineral potassium silicate. Rather than being a film on the surface that slowly dries out/cracks and peels, mineral paints

Materials

soak into the surface and petrify within it – they can never peel.Of further importance, is the high resistance to UV light –

mineral paints do not rely on organic resins (as standard paints do) that dry out over prolonged exposure to UV light causing failure. The potassium silicate binder in mineral paints is exceptionally resistant to UV light and remains stable through decades of exposure. Furthermore, mineral paints are colored only with inorganic mineral pigments which do not fade in UV light either – the result is a paint coating that is incredibly durable and will never fade.

Mineral based paints promote a healthy building – they prevent water penetration from the exterior, but allow vapor to be released from the inside of the building. This promotes a dry building and greatly reduces the chance of mold/damp from taking hold of the inside of the walls. Furthermore, mineral paints are alkaline on the pH scale and this naturally inhibits the growth of algae or fungus on the exterior of the building. Lastly, mineral based paints have a very low thermal-plasticity – meaning they don’t get ‘sticky’ when heated up. Coatings with a high thermal-plasticity tend to attract a lot of dirt as it adheres quite easily – mineral paints are the opposite and keep

the building clean and easy to wash.Mineral paints are comprised of >95% natural minerals, all of

which are highly abundant on Earth. They are sustainable products that are natural and completely non-toxic. In fact, leftovers can be left to harden and disposed of in the landfill safely – essentially all that is being thrown out is rock. Because they do not contain chemical solvents, mineral paints are zero VOC and pose no health risks to those occupying the building.

For use on new straw bale walls, it is generally recommended to apply 1 coat of mineral based primer (dilution) and 2 coats of mineral based paints. The primer is much different than a paint primer and it acts to equalize absorption across the surface and strengthen the render to lock up any loose particles.

Old surfaces that were previously coated with mineral paints should be lightly washed with a TSP to ensure the surface is chemically neutral, and then 1-2 coats of new mineral paint can be applied to change the color of the walls.

Disclosure: Dustin Jepson works for PermaTint. PermaTint is a sponsor of TLS and is not endorsed by the Journal. They are a steadfast supporter of our magazine and therefore deserve consideration during your choice of finishes. We encourage feedback on their products.

After PermaTint

Before PermaTint After PermaTint

Before PermaTint

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park with dry, sandy soil in New Mexico. The builder just poured it into the tire and patted it down; in contrast we shoveled, packed, whacked and shoveled some more. It was a bit of a mission. But it’s an incredibly strong wall and used up much of our excess subsoil, for which we were grateful.

Plug, pat and poundStarting out, we cleared the space, tacked some white geo-fabric

to the bank to keep it from drop-ping crumbs and made a level pad to start laying tires. As we were almost on bedrock, we didn’t have to lay any sand or concrete for footings; we just leveled it off.

As soon as you start building up from your first tire, you have to find a way to plug the holes so the earth doesn’t just fall through. We had a pile of carpet tiles the previous owner had left under our house, which fitted perfectly, so we used them. We backfilled the area directly behind the tires with 20mm blue metal and agricultural pipe to guide excess water out of this area. In addition, drainage holes are also necessary, as you never want any water building up behind a retaining wall.

We went five tires high and angled them all slightly towards the back for structural integrity. An important thing to note is that if you go over one meter high for a retaining wall you need an engineer (in our region at least) to design and approve things, which can get complicated and ex-pensive. Because of this, we didn’t exceed this limit – it might look taller below, but that’s be-cause the earth around the wall had been excavated and the paving hadn’t been put down yet.

This article first appeared in The Owner Builder 196 August/September 2016. www.theownerbuilder.com.au

As we live on a steep slope we’ve had to build a lot of retaining walls in order to create functionality around access, water management and food production. We’ve used a range of techniques to do this including working with old car tires to build a big earthship-style retaining wall near our house.

Earthship construction is a building technique developed by American architect Mike Reynolds. He’s famous for using ‘rubbish’ and earth as building materials. We love his work. We chose to build an earthship-style wall as we had a small budget and a lot of excess subsoil left over from our initial earth works. We also knew we could get car tires for free from the local car yard who have to pay to get rid of them.

Check your soilWe hadn’t built one of these before, so we spent some

time on YouTube learning how – there are plenty videos to watch. While it’s pretty easy, it’s also a lot of hard work. It would have been whole lot easier if we had heaps of people to help, one of those cool Wacker Packer tools and dry, gravelly soil instead of the wet and sticky clay subsoil we’ve got at our place.

This last tip is really important: the YouTube video we watched made it look like a walk in the

How to Build an Earthship WallHow to Build an Earthship Wallby Hannah Moloney

Plug the gapsThe next step involved plugging the holes between tires with

subsoil. The best approach was to simply form balls of sticky soil, ‘peg it’ (throw it really hard) into the gaps and then pat it in to make sure it’s all bedded down. After that, we wrapped the whole wall in chicken wire. This is what the external renders ‘hang on’ and it helps create a smooth, level surface.

We chose concrete render instead of earth for two reasons: firstly, this wall is in the coldest, dampest area of the whole property so it

The steeply sloped site

The hard work of filling the tires

Creating the foundation

Drainage behind the wall

Materials Materials

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Materials

needs to be able to handle long months of never seeing the sun and being constantly wet. Secondly, we’re not overly experienced with earth building, so we took the conservative approach.

The finishing touchesRecently we (as in, Anton)

did the paving around this area using recycled bricks that were pulled up from our local town square. This was the final job to do before we painted the wall bright blue with a colorful patterned border.

Another nifty feature of our new wall is little steps leading up to our food gardens. The only downside to these steps is that our little daughter Frida Maria loves climbing them. When you’re not looking she’ll be up there in two seconds! We’re happy she has a great time there, but it’s just that the potential of falling onto the hard bricks below is a little too stressful for us. A little gate may be in order.

We’d love to see more people using recycled materials to build inside and outside their homes. The amount of ‘rubbish’ in our world is mind-boggling and when we look closer at so-called rubbish, you’ll notice that most of it could actually be re-purposed into a valuable resource. The possibilities are endless – we just have to pull our socks up and get creative!

*Just a quick note: car tires can have some leaching of chemicals, which we wouldn’t personally be comfortable putting near food gardens. So this wall isn’t near our growing beds. Everything downhill from it (the leaching will move with gravity) is all brick paving and house.

Hannah Moloney is the co-founder of Good Life Permaculture offering design and teaching centered around the concept of radical homemaking, placing home and community at the core in order to create a good life. www.goodlifepermaculture.com.au

Book Reviews

This book review is unique in that we’re reviewing the first three volumes of a series of books being published by New Society Publishers called the Sustainable Building Essentials Series (SBES). At the time of publication of this article there will be a total of 16 books in the SBES covering everything from prefabricated straw bale construction to rainwater harvesting. New Society is going all out by commissioning the best and brightest in our industry to share their knowledge in an easy to understand and consistent format. This review will cover the first three publications within the SBES, which are: • Essential Hempcrete Construction • Essential Building Science • Essential Prefab Straw Bale Construction

At the time of publication, there appears to be two more books out as part of the SBES, which are: • Essential Light Straw Clay Construction • Essential Sustainable Home Design

We will review these last two in upcoming issues.

Essential Hempcrete ConstructionAs hempcrete attempts to take hold in North America, New Society has given us a complete guide for those who want to explore this relatively new insulating system. They have brought in Chris Magwood, our well-known natural building friend, to author this book based on his many years of experimenting with this building technique.We wouldn’t categorize this book as an exhaustive compendium on the subject of hempcrete, but it is complete in that it touches on all of the most important aspects of the system. There are some inclusions and exclusions that allow for a shorter book than other ones on this topic. An example of this is that they do not cover foundation options under hempcrete walls. This makes sense to those of us that have worked with different wall systems. The statement that it works with any foundation system is included, which is sufficient. There is really no need to delve deeply into foundations if the reader has a good understanding of building construction. It is clear that there is an assumption that you should also be reading other resources in addition to this one if you are building a house. Essential Hempcrete Construction has a couple valuable sections that are not in other resources on this subject. These include building science and code acceptance. Both of these topics are covered in what we would call medium depth, which is about how far you need to go without getting a consultant involved for special situations.Overall, this guide will set you on the right track. The experience that Magwood draws from is apparent. He has been experimenting with various types of materials and systems for years, and implements them on his project through the Endeavour Centre in Ontario. You will not be disappointed with this one in your natural building library.Essential Hempcrete Construction: the complete step-by-step guide can be purchased from New Society Publishers for $34.95 USD and CDN (print version) or $22.70 USD and CDN (e-book). Paperback – 128 pagesISBN: 9780865718197

Essential Building ScienceThis book is full of the kind of stuff geeks like us love. While each of the other two books in this review deal with a particular wall system, this one is broader in scope, and therefore covers all light construction, regardless of materials. This is necessary knowledge for all professional designers, builders and homeowners alike. It is so easy to make a systemic mistake during the design and/or construction process without a solid footing in building science, there is no excuse anymore for anyone to allow their buildings to be damaged by moisture. A book like this can be understood by almost anyone.

Three Sustainable Building Essential BooksReviewed by Jeff Ruppert

Filling the gaps Ready for render

The finished wall

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Book ReviewsThis book is not only about wall systems either. It covers all parts of the building, from foundation choices to the roof systems. In addition to these components, it offers explanations on moisture and hygrothermal dynamics, ventilation, thermal mass and insulation. There are plenty of details of things like various foundation options and eave venting. This book is one of those resources that, as a design professional, you want all of your owner-builder clients to read. In many cases, people with little building experience will develop a picture in their minds of how a building works without really doing the research. We have seen many building failures not as a result of the type of wall systems they use (i.e. straw bale vs. wood frame with fiberglass insulation), but as a consequence of poor window detailing or a leaky roof. Even a little bit of the knowledge in this book would go a long way in sparing many otherwise well-built structures from moisture damage that ends up giving entire types of wall systems a black eye. How many of you have heard someone say that straw bale walls mold. They obviously are not objectively making an observation of the vast majority of bale buildings that perform as expected, but they latch on to the one time they heard of mold in a bale wall due to a leak in the wall cladding. The point here is that resources like Essential Building Science are what keeps us safe from ourselves and allows us to instill confidence in those entities that support our work, such as insurance companies and banks who finance our work. The information that Deva Racusin shares is golden and should be required reading for everyone who undertakes a construction project.Essential Building Science: Understanding Energy and Moisture in High Performance House Design can be purchased from New Society Publishers for $34.95 USD and CDN (print version) or $22.70 USD and CDN (e-book). Paperback – 160 pagesISBN: 9780865718340

Prefab Straw Bale ConstructionChris Magwood returns with a full-length summary of one of the fastest-growing trends in the straw bale construction industry, which is pre-fabricating bale walls prior to placing them on your building project.The book begins with an introduction where pre-fabricated walls are given an acronym – S-SIPs (Strawbale Structural Insulated Panels). Personally, I hope this convention sticks because it places way of building bale walls in a league of a conventional wall subsystem of structural insulated panel (SIPs). It a familiar acronym that anyone in the trades understands, and clearly defines them as a subset, which they are. We’ve been designing bale wall systems as rigid-skin panels for many years so it only makes sense to classify them as they really are. Good on ya Chris!This is really one of those exciting book to read these days, from the perspective an engineer and builder. It appeals to the need for in-depth explanations of the various techniques of building S-SIPs if you’ve only been able to try one or two of them yourself. Magwood brings his extensive experience with all types of SIPs to the table and lays them out in a wonderfully objective fashion. Included in this edition of the SEBS is a nice discussion of engineering considerations for these wall systems by two very skilled engineers, Tim Krahn and Kris Dick of Canada. While much of their discussion centers on Canadian building codes, they do translate much of it to U.S. codes. This discussion alone is essential reading for engineers who want a clear and concise distillation of the governing aspects of designing S-SIPs. While they don’t provide calculations, they make up for it in discussing code-based approaches to your analysis.We recommend this book to anyone in the bale construction industry because it provides not only S-SIPs techniques, but it overlaps with conventional bale wall-building techniques, thereby enhancing your understanding of bale wall construction and behavior.Essential Prefab Straw Bale Construction: The Complete Step-by-Step Guide can be purchased from New Society Publishers for $34.95 USD and CDN (print version) or $22.70 USD and CDN (e-book). Paperback – 160 pagesISBN: 9780865718203

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Upcoming Natural Building Events27 March 2017 Earthen Shelter 7 Week Natural Building Internship, Maricopa CA21 April 2017 Building with Earth & Straw Part 1: Insulating Straw Walls, Rumsey CA24 April 2017 Spring 2017 EcoNest Six-Week Natural Building Boot Camp, Warfordsburg PA28 April 2017 Building with Earth & Straw Part 2: Earth Floors & Plasters, Rumsey CA29 April 2017 Earth Plaster, Lime Plaster, Earthen Floor Workshop, Kingston NM05 May 2017 Building with Earth & Straw Part 3: Natural Finishes, Rumsey CA08 May 2017 EcoNest Spring Intensive, Warfordsburg PA13 May 2017 Earth Plaster and Relief Art Workshop, Kingston NM15 May 2017 EcoNest Spring Straw Clay Walls, Warfordsburg PA10 June 2017 Permaculture and Ecovillage Immersion, Black Mountain NC12 June 2017 Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) Course, Black Mountain NC17 June to 05 Aug 2017 (Weekly) Permaculture and Ecovillage Immersion, Black Mountain NC16 Aug 2017 Ecological and Natural Building, Black Mountain NC28 Sept 2017 3rd International Conference on Green Energy & Expo, Berlin Germany08 Nov 2017 Greenbuild 2017, Boston MA14 Nov 2018 Greenbuild 2018, Chicago IL20 Nov 2019 Greenbuild 2019, Atlanta GAPlease visit our website for a full listing and description of these events.

The Last Straw JournalPO Box 1809Paonia CO 81428(970) 704-5828TLSEditor@thelaststraw.org

Human ResourcesTransMineral USAProvider of Saint-Astier Natural Hydraulic Limes, Lime Mortars, Lime Putty and Lime Paintswww.limes.us(707) 769-0661

Henderson ClayworksHenderson Clayworks is a General Contracting business specializing in Earth and Natural Building. Rediscovering and Refining the worlds great Earth Building Traditions. Earth based and Lime based plasters are used on all projects. On site testing and blending of clay soils is James’ specialty. If you can dream it, we can build it out of sand, straw and clay.Licensed General Contactor in Washington State, USA.http://www.facebook.com/HendersonClayworks(360) 460-3484

SolarWiseFor the last decade, Solarwise has specialized in energy and resource efficient straw bale design and construction. We combine a lifetime of conventional construction knowledge with the specific skills needed for effective straw bale construction. We design and build beautiful and healthy homes with exceptional

attention to detail, quality and craftsmanship. Our projects incorporate passive solar and site appropriate design, local/natural/green/recycled materials, non-toxic finishes and renewable energy systems to create an attractive and nourishing home that is both socially and environmentally responsible.(970) 376-3495 or (719) 539-9160

Dan DorseyDesigned and drawn plans for 85+ straw bale projects, know the SB codes, built first permitted SB single family residence in Pima County, AZ, in 1991. Consult and Design on Straw Bale and other natural building projects, do workshops, wall raisings.www.sonoranpermaculture.org/teaching-team-members/dan-dorsey(520) 624-8030

MG ArchitectsFull architectural design services including: conceptual design, construction and permit documents, and construction phase administration. Can assist owner/builder with getting approval for construction from local building inspector/department.www.mgarchitects.ne