Introduction
Find the Construction subheading on the Permaculture page.
Houses built with traditional earth technologies using indigenous knowledge make up the largest number of houses in the informal housing sector in South Africa.
Natural building is any building system which places the highest value on social and environmental sustainability. It assumes the need to minimise the environmental impact of our housing and other building needs while providing healthy, beautiful, comfortable and spiritually-uplifting homes.
Natural materials like stone, wood, straw and earth are not only non-toxic, they are life-enhancing. There is a good feeling we get from natural buildings which is difficult to describe. Even though conditioned to prefer the new, the shiny, and the precise, we respond at a deep level to unprocessed materials.
Source: Adapted from www.networkearth.org and https://sustainability-handbook.alive2green.co.za
Role players
Business Listings
Websites and publications
Visit the websites listed above.
For further information on straw bale construction look at:
- The International Journal of Straw Bale and Natural Building https://thelaststraw.org
- While we’re on the subject of straw, have you heard of straw bale gardens? Take a look at www.jenreviews.com/straw-bale-garden/.
www.greenhomebuilding.com – “a wide range of information about sustainable architecture and natural building”
El-Mouden Y. 2026, February 05. “‘We can learn from the old’: how architects are returning to the earth to build homes for the future.” The Guardian. Available at www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/05/architects-rammed-earth-buildings-homes-future
