3.35 Why Earthen Buildings with Sasha Rabin

3.35 Why Earthen Buildings with Sasha Rabin

From Home Green Homes by Izumi Tanaka

May 18, 2025 · 38 min · Season 3 · Episode 35

About this episode

Sasha Rabin discusses the importance of earthen building methods and the challenges of using natural materials in construction.

“I think there's a whole new awareness right now after these fires in LA, at least for people who live in California of like, just actually how toxic our whole houses are. So, you know, the answer for some might be, “oh, I was going to buy a new couch and I'm going to buy a couch that's cotton instead of like plastic,” you know, just smaller things. And, yeah, the more people that could be building a whole house out of natural materials right now, that's amazing.” - Sasha Rabin Sasha Rabin has a long history with natural building, stemming from her father's early interest in straw bale construction in the 1990s. This sparked Sasha's passion, leading her to study environmental design and eventually focus on earthen building methods like cob, adobe, and light straw clay. She founded Earthen Shelter as a platform to teach workshops on these techniques, which she sees as an important part of creating more sustainable and healthy built environments. Sasha discussed the challenges of getting alternative building materials permitted, especially in high-seismic areas. While there are now code appendices for some natural building methods, Sasha and organizations like Quail Springs , where…

People in this episode

Guest: Sasha Rabin

Topics covered

  • earthen buildings
  • natural materials
  • sustainable design
  • environmental design

Keywords

  • cob
  • adobe
  • light straw clay
  • natural building
  • sustainability

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Earthen Shelter

Places: LA, California

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