Michael G. Smith: 30 Years of Natural Building Workshops

Michael G. Smith, a seasoned natural builder, trainer, designer, and consultant, shares his extensive experience leading over 100 natural building projects across North America and internationally, focusing on energy-efficient, empowering techniques using local, regenerative materials. As board president of the Cob Research Institute, he contributed to the first model building code for cob, ensuring these methods meet modern standards. His workshops have trained nearly two thousand people in a wide array of specific techniques including cob, adobe, stone, earthbags, roundwood, cordwood masonry, timber framing, straw bales, light straw-clay, wattle-and-daub, chip-and-slip, bark-and-clay, ricecrete, living roofs, earthen floors, natural plasters, and paints. Practical details highlight hands-on learning: cob involves sculpting monolithic earthen walls; adobe uses sun-dried clay bricks; straw bales provide superior insulation when stacked and plastered; timber framing employs local wood for structural skeletons; earthbags offer seismic-resistant, rammed-earth cylinders filled on-site; light straw-clay mixes straw with clay slip for infill walls. Workshops emphasize regenerative use of local materials to address resilience in permaculture and self-sufficiency contexts, such as integrating living roofs for biodiversity, earthen floors for thermal mass, and natural plasters for breathable interiors. Smith's approach empowers participants through simple, accessible methods that reduce environmental impact while building durable shelters. Projects demonstrate real-world applications, from private homes to community structures, proving these techniques' viability for drought-prone, fire-risk areas by leveraging earth's mass for passive heating/cooling and non-toxic finishes for health. This depth of experience offers concrete pathways for practitioners to replicate in regenerative living scenarios.