• A Real Alternative - Rammed earth construction requires substantially less timber than traditional building methods. In fact, our walls require timber only to construct our rammed earth forms. In comparison, the construction of a 2,500 sq ft box-shaped home requires the equivalent of 64 trees, each fifty feet tall.


• Healthy - Rammed earth walls "breathe" better than other types of walls. This increased air passage means toxins are more likely to leave the home through the walls instead of through you. Since the interior of a house can be five to seven times more polluted than the air outside, this breathability is essential!


• Local - We obtain our primary component, earth, from local suppliers or the jobsite itself. This allows us to keep transportation energy requirements and costs down.


• Cost-Conscious - Rammed earth walls have low R-values, but high thermal mass. Like adobes, they keep the inside cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Since ninety percent of a home's energy usage occurs during its "live-in" phase, this high thermal mass means lower bills down the road - when it counts.


• Timeless - Rammed earth buildings can last for hundreds or thousands of years, reducing the need for later renovation and rebuilding projects which can double and triple the initial construction energy and cost input. (To compare, the expected lifespan of a wood-framed building hovers around 40 years.)


• Pollution-Reducing - Rammed earth is an excellent alternative to building with concrete. The production of a single pound of cement, the main ingredient of concrete, yields approximately one pound of CO2. Since cement is the second most-used substance on the planet, this comprises a significant portion of the world's CO2 emissions.


• Farm Friendly - We avoid depleting the land of its vital nutrients by using subsoil and not topsoil.


• Recognized - Numerous green advocacy groups recommend rammed earth construction as a legitimate alternative, including LowImpactLiving.com, Mother Earth News, and Greenhomebuilding.com.

Even the U.S. Green Building Council recognizes the environmentally-savvy aspects of rammed earth construction. In its Ask an Expert section of the Green Home Guide, expert Mick Dalrymple placed rammed earth behind only cob and straw bale construction methods in terms of embodied energy levels.