4.3: Shelter
- Page ID
- 14311
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Ecological building design is a vast subject, with many great architects and builders with a long history of innovation and demonstration. Ecological architecture is it’s own field that overlaps with permaculture in many places. Natural and environmentally sound building practices are a hallmark of many Permaculture sites. The video below is a very basic introduction, with the links below filling in some more detail about specific building materials and systems for the major climate zones.
A YouTube element has been excluded from this version of the text. You can view it online here: pb.libretexts.org/perm/?p=236
- Intro to Permaculture: Permaculture Shelter Design – Video Transcript
Featured Links
Additional Resources
The field of ecological housing design and building is vast, and this is not a complete list of resources or information. This is a collection of a bit of information for each major climate zone, and then more information that applies to multiple climate zones. Browse these links, and if you’re interested, keep searching on your own. There’s a lifetime’s worth of amazing information out there!
Temperate
- An Overview of Indigenous Building Materials
- Rocket Mass Heaters
- Making an Earth Oven
Drylands
Multi-Climate
Cob
- The Cob Builders Handbook by Becky Bee
- Cob and Earthen Plaster Example
- How to Build a Cob House with Cob Construction
- Mud and Wood: What is Cob?
- Making a DIY Earthen Floor
- Build Naturally with Cob
Adobe
- Adobe Floor Basics and How To
- Earthen Floor Recipe from Sustainable Nations
- Building an Adobe House
- Making Adobe Bricks