Alternative Walls
Alternatives to Standard Building Methods Offer Some Green Advantages
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Alternative Walls, including:
- Design and build strategies
- Necessary codes
- Application how-tos
- Using materials
Locally procured materials can be inexpensive
Many alternatives to standard wood or masonry wall construction were either revived or invented by builders — sometimes novices — taking part in the back-to-the-land wave of the 1970s. They most often used clay and earth, wood, stone, straw and other plant fibers, and salvaged and recycled materials. Interest in these approaches began growing again in the mid-1990s. Initially, these systems relied on indigenous and/or low-cost materials along with significant inputs of human labor, typically provided by the owner-builders themselves and/or inexperienced volunteers eager to learn these natural building methods. As the movement has matured in recent decades, however...
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