Workshops and Events

Listed Chronologically

Co-Create an Earthbag Home
May 30 - Sept. 29
Taos, New Mexico

This is a four month project, building an earth bag home from the earth up.

MONTH 1: Building a mechanical room, bag work, perimeter insulation, and vapor barrier. Innovative trench grade beam footing.

MONTH 2: Concrete footings and concrete bond beam. 2 x 6 south facing framed wall. Roof framed and sheathed

MONTH 3: Installing fixed and operable windows, seal windows, exterior plaster prep and plaster, pouring finish floors, putting up ceiling, building bottle and can walls

MONTH 4: Plastering interior walls, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, building and installing doors. Finish plaster exterior. Landscaping.

See www.earthandsunsustainablebuilders.com for more information.

Youth Cob Basics
August 2 - 30
Rockaway Beach, Oregon

Math meets mud in this new course. Monolithic earthen domes have been a common form of shelter around the world for eons. They can make great root cellars or garden sheds, and can easily endure the elements with a roof. Learn to construct a small catenary dome over four weekend classes. Attend some or all weekends, but we recommend all. It's going to be technical and fun!

See www.earthenhand.com for more information.

Cob Dome Construction
August 6 - 28
Rockaway Beach, Oregon

For ages 10 - 17, and parents are welcome too. Attend any number of classes. Have fun playing with mud as a sculpture and building material. Learn something new this summer!Tuesday evenings, 3:00pm - 6:00pm

See www.earthenhand.com for more information.

Foundations
August 7 - 10
Nevada City, California

Join us and learn the fundamentals of natural foundations. Learn about the rubble trench foundation, earth bag foundation, stone foundations, and proper drainage. Hands on experience is the best way to learn.                            

See naturallivingschool.com for more information.

Ecological and Natural Building
August 16 - 20
Asheville, North Carolina

Learn about the most common natural materials and techniques for designing ecologically sound buildings. Gain hands-on experience with natural building techniques such as cob, earthen plasters, and paints. Tour natural buildings constructed using these techniques to see sustainable possibilities for foundations, roofs, and wall systems, as well as site selection and passive solar design. This introductory course to natural building empowers students to create energy efficient, beautiful, and Earth-friendly structures.

See www.schoolofintegratedliving.org for more information.

Timber Harvesting
August 21 - 24
Nevada City, California

Learn how to choose and sustainably harvest trees for natural building. Learn how to use a chain saw, fell, debark, and clean a tree so it cures properly. Learn how to identify trees that are best for building and use an Alaskan Mill to harvest your own dimensional lumber.                         

See naturallivingschool.com for more information.

Hemp Building
August 21 - 24
Dev Aura, Little London, Tetford, Lincolnshire, UK

Steve Allin's three day hemp building courses have inspired many people to go on to establish the system in their regions. The course includes theory and practicee to give participants an opportunity to understand how the material works and the economics of the process of installation. Students will have an chance to get hands-on experience with frame building, hempcrete installation, shuttering design and hemp plastering.

See www.docdroid.net for more information.

Basics of Natural Building
Sept 2 - 4
Maricopa, California

This will be a very introductory exploration into the world of earthen and natural materials.  Learn how to source clay soils and other materials, make cob and adobe, and help build a cob wall.  Visit many examples of natural buildings on our building tour.  

• Course Tuition: $400 (Early bird discount $350, if registered and paid by July 15th)
• Course fee includes: Instruction, catered meals and camping accommodations

Contact Sasha Rabin, sashaATquailsprings.org for more information.

Round Wood Timber Framing Workshop
September 4 - 7
Nevada City, California

Learn our unique way to timber frame with round wood. We created a simple system that makes your joinery look clean and beautiful, without 5 to 10 years of training. Our system is for the DIY builder that doesn’t mind using hidden Timber Loks to secure their joinery. Our system has been approved by engineers and the building department.               

See naturallivingschool.com for more information.

Bale Cob Wall System
September 18 - 21
Nevada City, California

Join us and learn how to build with cob and straw bales. This natural wall system combines the best of straw bale building and cob walls. This wall system is easy and fast, and fun for people of all ages.          

See naturallivingschool.com for more information.

High-Quality Low-Cost Shelters Workshop
Sept. 23 - 24
Asheville, NC

We will tour an earthbag earthship, a converted bus, and revisit the construction of the easy yurt, and talk about the costs, strengths, and weaknesses of each. Class members can decide which structure(s) we mostly focus on.

See sustainablelifeschool.com for more information.

Cal-Earth Workshop
Sept. 25 - Oct. 2
Italy

In Cooperation with Vide Terra, the 8-day intensive course teaches how to apply the Superadobe/Earthbag technique for a dome construction. During the workshop a 2m interior diameter dome with a door and a window will be built. The purpose of the course is to give the theoretical and practical tools useful to design and build a small earth structure or living space.

See www.videterra.org for more information.

Cob Leveling Coat
October 2 - 5
Nevada City, California

Come and learn how to use cob as a leveling coat over straw bales. In this workshop, you will learn how to make our special cob mix for leveling coats, and apply it using hand tossing, slapping, and finishing with a trowel. Its fast, accurate, and very strong. Learn the fundamentals of trowel use and get the feel for plastering.   

See naturallivingschool.com for more information.

Natural Plastering
October 9 - 12
Nevada City, California

Learn the basics of natural plastering including recipes and specifications. Get hands on experience applying plaster and plenty of practice developing muscle memory. 

See naturallivingschool.com for more information.

7th International Hemp Building Symposium
Oct. 17 - 18
Montreal, Canada

The two day event will consist of international speakers with the latest research results and material tests. There will also be presentations from people working in the industry about projects they are involved in both planned or completed.

This year’s Symposium visit is an outing to a church and stone buildings situated nearby, a very beautiful project which has been renovated with Hempcrete and Hemp Plaster the inside of the stone wall.

See www.internationalhempbuilding.org for more information.

See On-Going Workshops for more listings.