"Fun. Easy to Read...One of the best natural building books published in recent years."—Bill Steen, coauthor, The Straw Bale House

Natural buildings not only bring satisfaction to their makers and joy to their occupants, they also leave the gentlest footprint on the environment. In this complete reference to natural building philosophy, design, and technique, Jacob Deva Racusin and Ace McArleton walk builders through planning and construction, offering step-by-step instructions on:
• siting and site analysis
• choosing materials
• integrating basic structural considerations into a design
• strategies for heating/cooling efficiency and moisture management
• planning for acoustics
• developing an integrative design
• navigating budgeting, code compliance, and project management
• creating the foundation, wall system, roof, and floors
• selecting and making plasters and paints
• evaluating options for mechanical and utility systems
• protecting against fire and insects
• integrating structures within landscape, climate, and human communities
...and more

Applicable to building in climates that are cold and wet, hot and dry, or somewhere in-between, The Natural Building Companion provides the tools necessary to understand basic principles of building science, including structural and thermal engineering, and hydrodynamics. This guide offers thorough, up-to-date, and advanced installation details and performance characteristics of straw-bale, straw-clay, woodchip-clay, and cellulose wall systems, as well as earthen and stone wall systems and a variety of framing, roofing, flooring, mechanical system, and finishing options. This fully-illustrated volume informs professionals making the transition from conventional building, homeowners embarking on their own construction, or green builders who want comprehensive guidance on natural-building options.

About The Author

Jacob Deva Racusin is co-owner of New Frameworks Natural Building, a Vermont-based contracting and consulting business specializing in the integration of natural materials, holistic design principles, an intentional process to create high-performance structures of beauty. Jacob also teaches a series of natural building courses through the Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont. He has helped to develop the Natural Building Intensive Certificate Program, a twelve-week-long building education program in which a community of students build an entire structure in a real-world environment from start to finish in a curricular setting. Jacob has served as program director from 2008-09. Jacob is a member of Seven Generations Natural Builders, a natural building education collective that offers training in natural building technologies across the world. He is also a Certified Passive House Consultant.

Ace McArleton founded New Frameworks Natural Design/Build in 2006 to offer green remodeling and new construction services that combine the best that natural building and conventional construction has to offer. He also led the company’s transition to a worker-owned cooperative in 2016. Ace is involved in sustainable building education through organizations including the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, where he has designed, directed, and instructed the Natural Building Certificate program. Ace has conducted field research on moisture and thermal performance of straw bale wall systems, as featured in the book The Natural Building Companion, and is a member of the Embodied Carbon Network. Ace started out as a union tile apprentice in California in 2001, received a BS in Environmental Science from Antioch College, and has developed and taught a curriculum uniting social and ecological justice at the Institute for Social Ecology. Ace is committed to making beautiful, ecological buildings that perform well and putting these skills into the hands of those who seek them.