My last post was about how well the super-insulated, high-mass, natural homes we build perform in heatwaves and power outages, but few of us currently live in such homes. Most of us live in homes that were built with minimal insulation or consideration for solar orientation. Short of knocking these houses down and starting over, …
Category: permalinks
Building for heatwaves and blackouts (without adding to their root causes)
We build houses that stay cool in heatwaves even when the power goes out. Interested? Then we’re going to have to talk about insulation, thermal mass, and passive systems. I know those are boring words but put them together right and they get very sexy results. Talking about electric engines is boring, driving a Tesla …
Reducing embodied carbon, storing carbon, and reversing climate change with biogenic materials like straw
Here is a short video we made for San Diego’s Sustainable Building Week 2021 about how biogenic materials – such as straw – not only reduce the carbon emissions associated with construction, they can even trap and store carbon in buildings, helping to reverse climate change. Running April 12 -16, 2021, Sustainable Building Week highlights …
Color of the Year 2021
For 2021, Sherwin-Williams has announced “Urbane Bronze” as the color of the year in a truly beautiful video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKiLelQDJwU&feature=youtu.be) where they show you weathered wood, smooth stones, and words about nature and being grounded and serene. And then they show you paint. Now, some of their paint is not as bad as most (their …
Check out our new natural plaster website
Interested in learning more about natural plasters? Check out our new website: www.naturalplastersandiego.com
Staring at the Walls – natural plaster & happiness
Natural plaster can’t fix the big problems in the world today but it can help you create a calm, beautiful sanctuary in your home. Many of us have found ourselves spending more time at home recently and probably more time thinking about what it is to be healthy, both physically and emotionally. With so …
We stand with BLM
Simple Construct stands with Black Lives Matter and supports equality and freedom from oppression. If you need any help getting it, check out this adorable girl’s sign: And if you are wondering why a natural building company would post something political like this, it’s because we feel it would be wrong to stay silent:
New article about straw bale and fire-resistance
I was happy to contribute to this article about the remarkable fire-resistance of straw bale buildings: https://onezero.medium.com/people-are-future-proofing-their-homes-with-straw-e25b470f5474
Limestrong lime plaster training March 14-15
We are excited to announce that we are hosting a training in Limestrong lime plasters at our current job site! These natural, durable plasters are perfect for existing homes as well as new construction. Join Ryan Chivers, owner and formulator of Limestrong Mineral Finishes, for a hands-on lime plaster weekend training at our current project …
Good press for strawbale construction
ABC 10 News in San Diego came out to our current job site and made this great piece about strawbale construction