Gallery of natural building materials
This article was published on
www.one-world-design.com
and is being reprinted with the authorization of Kelly Lerner, an
architect of prestige for her investigation of natural building
materials, especially straw bales. In the e-magazine No. 22 we
reported on a project in China managed by the author.
Solid,
sustainable, and energy efficient are just some of the prolific
benefits of natural building. In this Gallery, view some of the key
materials used in production of our structures.
Wood
Strong, durable and
beautiful, wood is an amazing, sustainable, building material that
can be used (and re-used) responsibly. Using reclaimed wood
(like the Douglas Fir in these cabinets) not only looks good, it
saves thousands of acres old growth forest. New wood from
sustainable managed forests is certified through the independent
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Wood is a high value material that
should be used in high visibility features like exposed trusses,
windows and doors, built-in furniture and countertops.
Straw
Together with earth,
straw has been used as a building material since the beginning of
time. Beginning in the late 1900’s, settlers used straw bales to
build the walls of their houses. Now, straw bales are a favoured
building material for those who want a highly insulated,
energy-efficient home constructed with less processed,
environmentally-friendly materials. Straw bale homes are durable,
warm in the winter and cool in the summer, fire resistant,
expressive, and comfortable.
Natural
finishes
Modern latex
paints, for the most part, produce flat uninteresting finishes that
are often toxic with volatile organic compounds (v.o.c.’s). Natural
paints are easy to make and require only a few inexpensive
ingredients including clay, lime, chalk, marble, and mineral pigments
from the earth. They can be applied to almost any type of wall
surface including latex, gypsum, cement, sheetrock, or wood. “Milk
Paint” is one example of a traditional natural finish that is
finding it’s way back into modern usage.

Cork
Cork
is the environmentally friendly renewable bark from a cork oak tree
that grows primarily around the Mediterranean Sea. It is
stripped from the tree every nine years without damage to the tree.
Due to the unique characteristics of cork, the bark is used for a
large variety of products ranging from wine corks to gaskets to floor
tiles. Cork is light in weight and floats, soft but durable,
expandable and flexible. It is moisture resistant yet allows
some absorption. It insulates, isolates, absorbs sound and
vibrations, and is anti-static. There is no other material –
natural or man-made – that possesses all of these qualities.
Bamboo
Bamboo is attractive
as a building material because it is very hard, strong, and
dimensionally stable. Used as flooring, bamboo is just as hard as
Maple (1450.3 psi) and 50 percent more stable than Red Oak.
Botanically, bamboo is not a wood at all, but rather a grass.
Environmentally, it's hard to argue with a wood-substitute that
matures in three years, regenerates without need for replanting, and
requires minimal fertilization or pesticides. In fact, these larger
species of bamboo have been used in construction for thousands of
years, and even in modern Asian cities it's not uncommon to see a
large concrete building being constructed from bamboo scaffolding.