Talk:Natural building

message: I came across a reference to PISÉ (Pneumatically Impacted Stabilized Earth) (see for example, Rammed Earth Works-PISE. It may be of interest. --Singkong2005 05:33, 11 May 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Pise

message: It seems that there is a great deal of overlap between this article and Green building. I'm not certain which is the predominant term to merge them under, though.--Jrsnbarn 15:08, 12 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I would venture an opinion that using the term Green carries emotional conotations, both negative and positive.  Natural would be a more neutral term, if that is your goal.--James52 04:05, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

text: An example to support Quiethand's paragraph: Cordwood construction would be considered a 'natural building' method by some, as it's intended to use less non-human energy for the construction. However, all that concrete in the mortar mixture would kill the idea of it being a 'green' method in many peoples' minds. Doing the same method with 'cob' (a mixture of clay and a fiber (like straw or grasses) would be acceptable in many more of those minds. So the line is very difficult to draw. --Kickstart70-T-C 05:47, 20 March 2007 (UTC)

text: I appreciate the distinction that you've drawn betwen natural and green builders. I don't see that clarity in the articles themselves, but perhaps if they were merged, a paragraph could be written to ditinguish the two. Building techniques could then be described in their sections as being considered less green or more natural, etc. Alternatively, perhaps the building techniques are moved to their own article and be natural/green agnositic. They could simply be referenced by the natural or green article. I'm less in favour of this approach because it would make for three short article where I believe one could do a nice job.--Jrsnbarn 14:52, 20 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with Jrsnbarn that there is a lack of clarity in the articles as to the distinction between green and natural building. The problem lies primarily with the Green building article, IMO. Someone has included sections in it on straw bale and rammed earth, which are generally considered Natural building methods. Green building in North America is defined by the LEED Standards. Natural building is generally considered to go much farther in the direction of sustainability. There is a great deal of cruft in the Green building article and someone has rightly put a clean-up tag on it. On the other hand, the Natural building article seems fine. In any case we should maintain two separate articles as these are, in practice, (despite some inevitable overlap), two distinct approaches to building more sustainably. Sunray 07:06, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

text:  Would it be a better option to rename this article to "natural building materials" rather than merge these two? This article is very focused on the materials themselves but does not go into the methods by which they are more sustainable or "green". BuckskinBasher90 (talk) 22:18, 7 October 2023 (UTC)

text: The intention is clearly to cover the construction, not only the materials, if we're really taking up this 16 year old thread. More on how the materials are assembled would be good. Chiswick Chap (talk) 06:14, 8 October 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposed merger with [[Green building]] 

message: We would like to get input on the inclusion of an external link in the article on Straw-bale construction. There is discussion and a poll here. Comments prior to August 7, 2007 would be appreciated. Thanks. Sunray 06:59, 28 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Poll on inclusion of natural building link

message: Where can we find this info?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.160.198.228 (talk) 14:40, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  How many people in the world live in natural buildings? 

message: There are several instances of these non-natural building materials in this article. While the use of concrete and steel may have a place in some structures the article does not emphasize the materials should be avoided if possible. The inclusion of 'The model fireproof farm house' is absolutely inappropriate since it has a "poured concrete roof". I propose to update this article by removing inappropriate references to concrete and steel and the Rock Lodge building replacing it with a more appropriate contemporary dry stone home. naturalhomes 16:23, 24 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  This article should not contain inappropriate reference to concrete and steel 

message: As with the edit for stone (formerly, 'Stone, granite, and concrete'), it is inappropriate for this article to detail cement and steel as an additive to the methods adobe, earthbag and rammed earth. As per the stone edit, this talk post is here to open dialogue with experienced practitioners in natural building to comment. The rigor in the changes I propose are in agreement with recognised leaders in their field and will be cited in any changes to this article. naturalhomes 16:23, 4 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Regarding Cement in Adobe, Earthbag and Rammed earth 

message: It is inappropriate for this article to include the use of cement in Compressed earth block (CEB). The percentage proportions given as 6-10% portland cement is equivalent to the proportions used in concrete foundations, typically 11% cement. As per the recent stone edit, this talk post is intended to open a dialogue with experienced practitioners in natural building to comment before CET is removed from the article or adapted for natural materials such as ferricrete. naturalhomes 18:02, 20 October 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Regarding Compressed earth block 

message: I removed this from the adobe section, as it's promotional and redundant:
In past centuries, Latin American countries called this type of rammed earth structure adobe. Nowadays, modern innovations are able to utilize the practicality and use of these rammed earth bricks and combine it with scientific advances to create soil-stabilizing products such as AggreBind. Companies such as Aggrebind are cutting edge and combine the environmentally friendly properties of rammed earth bricks with new cross-linked, water based, styrene acrylic polymers that are able to create green roads and buildings that are sturdier and safer than the traditional methods of creating green buildings. 
In a temperate climate with cool nights and hot days, in Perth Western Australia, temperature inside a small 12 m2 rammed earth cabin was monitored over a long hot summer of 2012 and it was found that the inside temperature of the cabin was consistently 10-15 degrees cooler inside the cabin than the outside temperature in the shade, even on a hot 45 degree day!  There were no windows or a door installed in the cabin, only the empty window openings and empty doorway which is quite a remarkable result.  No air-conditioning was required at all.  So if a house is designed correctly for the climate, using a high thermal mass building material such as rammed earth, it really is possible to have a house which doesn't require any air conditioning at all even on a hot 45 degree summer day.  The key of course is having the cool nights.  So rammed earth is not always such an ideal building material.
KVDP (talk) 13:19, 12 January 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: adobe

message: The sub-section 'Stucco' is not a correct member of the section 'Techniques' which are all building models. You can't build a stucco house. I propose a new section should be added to the article called 'Finishes' which would include stucco (lime and clay), tadelakt, natural oils for protecting wood etc. If there are no objections I will make the change after a month's notice here. naturalhomes 17:00, 28 March 2014 (UTC)
thread_title: Stucco

message: I propose new sections should be added to the article under 'Techniques' to include the missing techniques hempcrete (hemp and lime) and slip-straw (straw and wet clay) and in the sub-section straw, add straw panel and giant bale techniques. If there are no objections I will make the change after a month's notice here. naturalhomes 16:53, 9 April 2016 (UTC)
thread_title: Missing techniques

message: I was wondering if you could explain how these architectural techniques are better for the environment? How does using stone versus wood impact the environment?
Rylienicolee (talk) 17:42, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title: Impact?

message: I propose to make small, but potentially many, changes to convert the text of this article to use the term 'Natural Building' as a noun rather than its frequent use here as a verb. This will bring the article into line with the other architectural types such as Eco-House [noun] and Passive House [noun] etc. An example of the changes I propose would replace "Other materials commonly used in natural building are" with "Other materials commonly used in a natural building are" (from the section Materials). This change has been discussed and agreed with leading natural builders. This work will also introduce the commonly used synonym for a 'natural building', namely a 'natural house' which brings this article into line with Eco-House and Passive House etc. If there are no objections I will make the change after a month's notice here. naturalhomes 16:52, 29 January 2021 (UTC)
thread_title: Convert from Natural Building [verb] to Natural Building [noun]