FAQs
Natural Building
What is natural building?
Natural building is the use of minimally processed, locally abundant materials that can be harvested without harm to build habitable structures. All construction before the industrial revolution was natural building. The materials and methods are ancient practices perfected over thousands of years. KinDesign blends natural building with modern tools and systems to bring healthy, sustainable construction back to everyday life.
Natural building takes more labor to create a similar result to conventional construction, but the materials are much less expensive and sometimes free. For an average house, natural building is about 15% more expensive. However, the longevity of natural materials more than makes up for the higher labor cost. Depending on the design, naturally built houses can last for hundreds of years. The standard track home being built in the US today is not expected to survive much longer than the length of the mortgage.
How does the cost of natural building compare to conventional construction?
What does natural building maintenance look like?
There are no maintenance free materials. The primary difference between natural materials and synthetic materials is the failure mode. Natural materials age over time, oven developing an attractive patina. They can be repaired, recoated, or resealed, and when they must be replaced, they are not sent to the landfill, but returned to the environment. Synthetic materials conceal their age and often conceal dangerous deterioration as well. When a problem becomes apparent, it is often already significant. Synthetic materials cannot be repaired and must be completely replaced, contributing to pollution and waste.
Regenerative Landscaping
Regenerative landscaping attempts to blend the principles of resilient design found in regenerative agriculture into our urban and suburban environment. This includes the use of native and beneficial plants and stormwater retention and usage to restore the ecology of the land around us. The practice creates the necessary environments for native biodiversity through the planting of key species in prepared areas. It creates a landscape that grows more vibrant and diverse with each year.
What is regenerative landscaping?
In general, regenerative landscaping costs more than conventional landscaping, at first. The savings add up quickly as maintenance needs dwindle and natural disasters are averted. We are not working to uphold a past design, but encourage the current living ecosystem to grow towards resilience and abundance.
How does the cost of regenerative landscaping compare to conventional?
One of the great benefits of regenerative landscaping is lower maintenance costs. By paying attention, and moving with Earth’s natural cycles, we avoid fighting nature with costly irrigation, new plantings, and inorganic applications. Instead we rely on vigilant stewardship and open communication with land owners. This will look like timing plant installations with the rain cycles, propagating plants on site, creating water flow channels, and pruning for longevity. We will always use elctric machines and repurposed materials when possible.