BRATTLEBORO AREA NATURAL-BUILDING GROUP
Vermont
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Philosophy
- The Case for Natural Building — "Natural building is any building system which places the highest value on social and environmental sustainability. It assumes the need to minimize the environmental impact of our housing and other building needs while providing healthy, beautiful, comfortable and spiritually-uplifting homes for everyone. Natural builders emphasize simple, easy-to-learn techniques based on locally-available, renewable resources. These systems rely heavily on human labor and creativity instead of on capital, high technology and specialized skills."
- Building Relationships — "A casual conversation with Bill Steen and Athena Swentzell Steen, two of the authors of the best-selling book The Straw Bale House, on the essence of building."
- A Different Way to Build — "The naïve manner in which we build our homes and businesses must change, either out of foresight and choice now, or out of destruction and necessity in the future. Natural building offers us an opportunity to slow the damage, to reassess our place in the world, and to live comfortably as human beings. We must not miss it."
- What is "Natural" Building? — "Is crushed rock from a rock-crusher somehow more a product of violence than crushed rock from a glacial moraine? Is sawmill lumber from a plantation tree less violent in its genesis than sawmill lumber from a 500-year-old forest monarch? What about the felling of the former compared to the latter? And the violence of a monocrop agroforestry timber production system? Is it more or less violent to remove gravel wash from an existing river bed than to quarry it from a hillside that was a river bed millions of years ago?"
Materials & Techniques
- Natural Building Techniques — Quick introductions to things like adobe, cob, earthbags, earthen floors, earthships, light straw-clay, living roofs, natural plasters and finishes, rammed earth, strawbale, thatch, wattle and daub.
- Seven Generations Natural Builders: What's natural building — Capsule intros for cob, strawbale, "slipstraw" (straw-clay), natural plasters, roundwood carpentry, finding and using recycled materials, and ecological passive solar design.
- All-natural Pre-school Addition in Madison, Wisconsin — Introductions to Faswall, earth plastering, timberframe and recycled light-framing, earth floors, and straw-clay by way of a real project.
- Twisted Road — She lives in the desert, but there's a lot for us to learn from Patricia. Strawbale, adobe, cob, earthbags, reciprocal roof, and a lot of good-hearted can-do.
- Natural / Alternative Building Photo Gallery — Hundreds of photos of many different natural building projects, mostly in the US.
- Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building — "These links will take you to hundreds of beautiful images."
- Building the natural way — An article about the 2005 Natural Building Colloquium East in Bath, NY.
- Siting a Natural Building — "Selecting a building site is one of he most critical design decisions you will ever make. The wrong choice can have long-lasting negative effects that are difficult (or impossible) to mitigate... The following suggestions are intended specifically for siting dwellings on rural land, but most are applicable to other situations and building types."
- Google is your friend: — The word strawbale... the phrase "straw bale"... the words cob clay sand straw. There's a lot of info out there waiting—look for it.
Local & Regional:
Not from here?
- Not from here?
- Community-building: education, information, & events
- Local enterprises and businesses that get it
- State & Region
Not from here?
- Brattleboro: Frommers — "Set in a scenic river valley, the commercial town of Brattleboro is not just a good spot for provisioning; it has a funky, slightly dated charm that's part 19th century, part 1960s. The rough brick texture of this compact, hilly city has aged nicely, its flavor enhanced since its adoption by ex-flower children, who moved here, grew up, cut their hair, and settled in, operating many of the best local enterprises."
- Brattleboro (05301) Weather Conditions & Forecast — How's the weather up there?
Community-building: education, information, & events
- iBrattleboro — A local, active, reader-written, citizen journalism site.
- The Commons — Windham County's independent source for news and views, produced with volunteer efforts of local writers, editors, photographers, artists and mentors, and the support of local advertisers. The vision and intent of Vermont Independent Media (VIM) is to counter the trend to ever-larger media consolidation and control over locally produced and owned community media.
- Brattleboro Freecycle Network — Freecycle is a grassroots movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. The Brattleboro list typically sees between 100 - 200 postings per month.
- Brooks Memorial Library — Our local library. Use it!
Local enterprises and businesses that get it
- Post Oil Solutions — Their projects and initiatives include community education about peak oil and global warming; establishing community gardens; Eat Local campaigns; local currency; ride sharing; and more. The group meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month.
- Renew Building Materials and Salvage — ReNew is a non-profit, environmentally-driven store offering used, surplus, and salvaged building materials including doors, windows, kitchen cabinets, hardware, plumbing, electrical, lumber, appliances, and tools. Stock is derived from donations and deconstruction projects. They also offer an expanding selection of new green products and materials. Profits support other local initiatives and organizations.
- BuildingGreen — An independent company providing accurate, unbiased, timely, world-class information designed to help building-industry professionals and policy makers improve the environmental performance, and reduce the adverse impacts, of buildings. Print and electronic resources approach design and construction from a whole-systems perspective, promoting integrated design to minimize ecological impact and maximize economic performance.
- Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center — BEEC is a member-based, nonprofit organization founded to sustain an ecologically informed citizenry through education and action in order to enhance the vitality of southern Vermont's bioregion. They carry out innovative community-based research and conservation programs for residents of all ages.
- Everyone's Books — A family-owned, independent bookstore specializing in books about social change, the environment, and multicultural children's books. Everyone's books provides a friendly, personal place where folks can shop, meet, rant about right-wing government, nurse a baby, or learn. They have a huge selection of bumper stickers, pins, T-shirts, and cards on issues from peace and justice to women's rights to the current sorry government. There's always a great selection of bargain and remaindered books.
- Save the Corporations from Themselves — A retail store and community meeting space, Save the Corporations offers earth conscious choices and environmentally positive products and services, including hemp clothing & accessories, organic unbleached cotton clothing, low impact personal care and household goods, sustainable school and office supplies, indigenous handmade crafts, and books, magazines, and cards Their upstairs space is devoted to community action, and provides free literature and resources on current environmental and social justice campaigns—including petitions, a community bulletin board, mailing campaigns, and pamphlets and flyers. The space is also available for readings or meetings for activist groups.
- Brattleboro Food Co-op — Begun in 1975 as a small buying club, the Co-op today is a community-owned, 16,000-square-foot supermarket for members and non-members alike.
- Brattleboro Farmers' Market — The Farmers' Market has over 50 vendors of agricultural products, crafts, exotic foods—homegrown, homecooked, handcrafted.
- New Leaf CSA — New Leaf does not use chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers, or genetically modified crops. They grow over 35 different vegetables as well as flowers, herbs and melons. Each week, CSA members receive a diverse mix of seasonal crops.
- World Learning - International Education, Sustainable Development — Promotes international and intercultural understanding, democracy, social justice, and economic development through education, training, and field projects in over 100 countries on five continents.
- New England Coalition — Since 1971, NEC has advocated for safe energy in New England, providing education and resources for alternatives to nuclear power.
State & Region
- Yestermorrow Design/Build School — One of the only design/build schools in the country, Yestermorrow offers over 100 hands-on courses every year in design, construction, woodworking, and architectural craft. Their 1-day to 2-week programs are taught by architects, builders, and craftspeople from across the country, and accommodate people of all ages and experience levels.
- Vermont Green Building Network — VGBN is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing Vermont's participation in green building and to promoting the environmental, financial, community, and health benefits of green design, construction, and building operation practices. Builders, designers, developers, policy makers, service providers, and other building industry professionals working together to improve building practices in Vermont.
- Vermont Earth Institute — VEI educates and supports Vermonters to reduce consumption and adopt environmentally sustainable practices in their homes, workplaces and communities. Discussion courses and educational programs are offered, bringing people together, raising their ecological awareness, and facilitating profound change in their values, habits and actions in caring for the environment.
- Vermont Natural Resources Council — VNRC is a statewide environmental organization protecting natural resources and the environment through research, education, and advocacy.
- Efficiency Vermont — The first statewide energy efficiency utility in the U.S., Efficiency Vermont helps Vermonters reduce energy costs by making their homes and businesses energy-efficient... providing technical assistance and financial incentives to help identify and pay for cost-effective approaches to energy-efficient building design, construction, renovation, equipment, lighting, and appliances.
- Vermonters for a Fair Economy and Environmental Protection — VFEEP is a non-profit organization working to build a sustainable and equitable economic and environmental future.
- Vermont Public Interest Research Group — VPIRG is a member-supported watchdog and advocacy organization promoting and protecting the health of Vermont's environment, people, and locally-based economy.
- Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont — NOFA Vermont, one of the oldest organic farming associations in the U.S., is a non-profit association of farmers, gardeners, and consumers working to promote an economically viable and ecologically sound Vermont food system for the benefit of current and future generations.
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photos by Mark Piepkorn
and Sarah Machtey
and Sarah Machtey