A long time ago, before the invention of glass and metal fabrication, our ancestors built their houses from natural materials that came from the Earth.
Modern technology and construction have made building homes a lot easier now, but that still doesn’t mean that the old ways aren’t still effective today.
In fact, a lot of builders have started adopting some of the materials our ancestors used and incorporated them into modern designs. With the world’s growing concern over environmental protection and conservation, these materials make any construction company a part of the green movement.
10 Natural Building Materials that Can Be Fused with Modern Materials
1. Wattle and Daub
This composite building method for walls involves a woven lattice made out of wooden strips — the wattle — that is daubed with plaster made up of clay, wet soil, sand, straw, and animal dung to provide insulation for the wall.
2. Green Roof
Green roofs are made up of several layers of soil on rooftops that can support plant life and vegetation. As the building and construction industries are moving towards greener architecture, these types of roofs excellently incorporate nature into architecture. It has plenty of benefits, is eco-friendly, and aesthetically pleasing.
3. Earth
Earth is one of the basest building materials that is found anywhere and used in various ways. From ancient times until today, it is a widely used building material that has proven its worth time and time again.
4. Earth Bags
Earthbags aren’t just used as protective barriers by the military but they also serve as flood reinforcement in areas prone to flooding. For this reason, earthbags are being used in certain building projects such as the construction of huge weather-resistant substantial walls.
5. Masonry
Masonry, another ancient building material, is great for structural uses, especially foundational. It includes bricks and stones and has several different applications, such as walls, floors, walkways, foundations, and landscaping.
6. Bamboo
Bamboo is a strong building material that can be used as a substitute for rebars. It has been used for centuries in the Far East as a reliable building material. It’s easy to acquire since they grow really fast making them very popular in East Asian construction sites. It has a natural aesthetic appeal and can be used in several types of building applications.
7. Wood
Wood and timber are still a huge part of construction all over the world. It is still a great building material that just never goes out of style. It is a stunning material to use inside or outside a home and adds to a property’s aesthetic value giving it more warmth and texture.
8. Cob
Although cob was once popularly used during ancient times, it is fast becoming multi-faceted material in green architecture. It is formed using sand or clay, earth, and some additional fibers and applied over a stone or concrete foundation.
9. Straw Bale
Despite the story of the Three Little Pigs and how the Big Bad Wolf blew down the house of straw, this material was widely used mainly for its insulation and fire-resistant properties. Straw bales also have a really exceptional load-bearing capacity and are used to assist in carrying loads of a roof on a structure.
10. Adobe
One of the world’s oldest building materials is still being used in a lot of different places even today. Adobe is a mixture of mud and water that is shaped and sun-dried. Some additional fibers can be put into the mix for reinforcement. In most cases, these are formed into the shape of bricks and are stacked using mortar made from mud.
With the entire world now more conscious about being eco-friendly, these natural materials help builders find alternative ways of building structures that are environmentally-friendly.
