Natural Building Basics – Part I: Wall Systems
Look to the past to inform sustainable design and building for the future. This video workshop will guide you through step-by-step instructions to renovate an existing structure with natural cob and light clay insulation.
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*Please note that many of the associations listed under ‘CEUs/PDAs’ do not formally pre-approve online courses for credits, and thus require the student to track their own online course hours to submit for approval for their annual CEU/PDA requirements.
Meet your course instructor
Bryce Ehrecke
Bryce Ehrecke comes from a line of weavers, builders, and explorers. His ancestors created textiles in Ireland, farmed in Normandie, and constructed in Germany, before coming to Canada to lead a different life. From his mother's side he has gained creativity and ingenuity, and from his father's side, he has gained craftsmanship and skill. He now weaves his heritage with place, and natural buildings with natural landscapes, honouring the relationship between human beings and all other beings. His education in natural building began by connecting and paying attention to the world around him and expanded while apprenticing with Pat Hennebery of CobWorks. He has spent the past decade working, living, learning, teaching and exploring with many different natural builders and natural structures. He now runs a Natural Building and renovation company based out of Victoria through Dreamweavers Collective. He specializes in rock work, earthen and lime plasters, roundwood, and using whatever design and materials best suit the environment and whom the structure is for. Bryce is a faculty member of the School of Permaculture Design at Pacific Rim College.
Course description
Learn the building techniques of our ancestors.
In this online course you will learn how to:
- Renovate the walls of a home, workshop, or any other pre-existing structure with environmentally-friendly materials and your own hands
- Prepare your site for safety and flow during building
- Mix light clay and cob
- Apply light clay with straw and wood chips to a pre-existing wall
- Identify and learn about common natural building materials
- Create arches and niches
This natural approach uses sustainable, long-lasting, breathable, and non-toxic materials that can be easily and affordably obtained. Cob is a mixture of clay, sand, and straw (similar to Adobe), but instead of making bricks, you hand sculpt the walls. Light Clay is a mixture of clay and straw or wood chips, which is then packed into a wall. It can be covered in many different natural finishes (see Natural Building Basics Part II: Natural Finishes) and works well in the renovation of existing buildings.
Natural builder Bryce Ehrecke leads this video-based workshop through step-by-step visual instruction. With a decade of building and design experience, Bryce and his partner are behind CRÉ Natural Building, a natural renovation, landscaping, gardening, and design firm.
After completing your cobb and light clay installation, you can learn to apply natural finishes to it by taking the second part of this series: Natural Building Basics Part II: Natural Finishes.

Lesson plan
Students are saying…
“Great course—it’s been enjoyable throughout, easy to follow, and useful.”
“As a newcomer to natural building, I came away feeling energized and confident, and ready to keep learning! The course gave a thorough, focused hands-on introduction to different natural building materials and approaches. Bryce is a skilled, patient teacher with an intuitive sense of how to explain concepts and demonstrate techniques plainly and clearly.”
“I felt that Bryce was extremely knowledgeable and portrayed the information in a way that was very easy to absorb. This is an excellent course. Very well thought out and very informative. The course was well put together and went very in depth. I definitely have been inspired.”
“It was the seed to start my adventures! It helped me learn about basic terminology and concepts. I thought taking an online course was a waste of time and money; but now I’ll be ready to dive into more complex questions to build my own natural home sooner! I really loved the moment of appreciation for first nations and understanding the respect to the land and their knowledge for years.”
“The quality of teaching was exceptional. We purchased a piece of property and want to experiment with natural building. Bryce broke things down into bite size bits of learning that lends to the course really well.”
“Excellent introduction to natural building materials with informed step-by-step instructions and consistent visual aid. Enjoyed not having to click through videos on YouTube. I like to see one consistent project so that I’m not getting varying information. I like the flow of having one person instructing.”
“I found it very informative, easy to understand.”
Please note, this elective course is for PRC Campus students only.