[Sdpg] Natural Building(Cob) in Santa Barbara - Sept 26-30 2005

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson]

Solar Living Institute to Teach Natural Building (Cob) in
Santa Barbara

     The Solar Living Institute (SLI) and Seven
Generations Natural Builders will be offering a
five-day cob building intensive at Orella Ranch on the
Gaviota Coast near Santa Barbara for professional
builders, homeowners and students interested in less
expensive and ecological methods of construction.
Students will make cob and learn how this building
material, made up of clay, straw and sand, is
implemented in natural building construction. The
workshop, Cob Building Intensive (Sept. 26-30), will
be led by Sasha Rabin, an alumnae of SLI's internship
program who apprenticed with the Cob Cottage Company
and co-founded Seven Generations Natural Builders.
     "With housing prices and construction costs soaring,
more builders are implementing straw, clay and other
natural materials into their designs," says SLI
founder John Schaeffer. "We are proud to have served
as a haven for the natural building community since
1998."
     Included in the workshop is various cob wall building
techniques, installation of windows into cob walls,
methods for attachment of wood doors and roofs, and
how to sculpt niches, shelves and furniture.
Additionally, students will also be building a
wood-fired cob oven.
     The workshop costs $675. Registration for these and
other Solar Living Institute workshops can be made by
calling (707) 744-2017 or visiting the Institute's
website at www.solarliving.org.

About the Solar Living Institute
Established in 1998 as a spin-off from Real Goods
Trading Company, the Solar Living Institute in
Hopland, CA, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational
organization that promotes sustainable living through
inspirational environmental education. The Institute
offers over 100 one- to seven-day workshops on
renewable energy, green building, sustainable living,
ecological design and alternative construction
methods.  (www.solarliving.org)

About Seven Generations Natural Builders
Seven Generations Natural Builders (SGNB) is dedicated
to teaching people how to house themselves. The
company teaches cob, straw bale, and other natural
building skills. It advocates building with local
natural materials using methods that are ecologically
sensitive, environmentally sound, and economically
affordable. SGNB is focused exclusively on the new cob
and straw bale natural builder.

Contact:  Chantal Simonpietri, Workshop Coordinator,
Solar Living Institute
                  Email:
chantal.simonpietri at solarliving.org, Phone:
707-744-2011, Fax: 707-744-1682

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