永續農業是一種基於自然系統可持續性的整體系統 設計形式，力求在我們的生活環境中重現這種可持續性。永續農業設計因氣候因素、生物區、組織目標、個人喜好和其他因素而異。他們通過互惠互利的協同作用整合“土地、資源、人和環境——模仿在不同自然系統中看到的無浪費、閉環系統”[1] 因此可以說，永續農業的核心是^一套思維工具，特別是對背景、威脅和機會的認識。

The holistic approach of permaculture integrates "agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics and community development".^[1]

See Permaculture wiki for an explanation of how Appropedia works for permaculture.

Strawbale construction offers good thermal insulation, thermal mass, and (depending on the other materials chosen) only natural components, with benefits for indoor air quality.

Straw bale construction has been around since the early 1900s. Many of the structures built back then are still standing and being used. Some examples of straw bale construction are homes, farm buildings, churches, community centers, etc.

Straw is baled material from oats, barley, rice and others. It was traditionally the waste products that farmers did not till under the soil. Instead it was used as bedding or landscape supply due to its durability. It is essentially the dry plant material left over after a plant has been harvested for seed.

Bamboo can be utilized as a building material for scaffolding, bridges, houses and buildings. Bamboo, like wood, is a natural composite material with a high strength-to-weight ratio useful for structures. Bamboo's strength-to-weight ratio is similar to timber, and its strength is generally similar to a strong softwood or hardwood timber.

Bamboos are some of the fastest-growing plants in the world, due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. Certain species of bamboo can grow up to 91 cm within a 24-hour period, or nearly 4 cm/h.^[2]

Adobe brick drying

Adobe is a type of earthen construction composed, like cobb, of sand, clay, fiber (usually straw) and often other organic ingredients. The adobe mixture is shaped into bricks using adoberas (wooden frames) and then dried in the sun. Adobe structures are extremely durable, with many very old structures still in use.^{[verification needed]} They also regulate temperature due to their high thermal mass, which is very useful in climates with high diurnal temperature swings.

Cobb is a type of earthen construction composed, like adobe, of sand, clay, fiber (usually straw) and often other organic ingredients. Cobb is made as one contiguous structure, with clumps of cobb mixture being added to previous cobb clumps, hence the other name for cobb - monolithic adobe-. Cob structures are extremely durable, with many very old structures still in use^{[verification needed]}. They also regulate temperature due to their high thermal mass, which is very usefull in climates with high diurnal temperature swings.

Wattle and daub construction in the Dominican Republic.

Wattle and daub is a method of construction, consisting of a plain weave of vertically placed wooden stakes, and horizontally disposed thin wooden strips (wattle). These interwoven elements are then daubed in a kind of plaster, made up of a variety of materials depending on location and availability, but most commonly mud, clay, animal manure, sand and straw.

The key components in creating a wattle and daub building are the frame, the wattle panel, and daub.^[3]

Rammed earth trombe wall built by the Design Build Bluff Organization

Rammed earth, also known as taipa^[4] (Portuguese), tapial (Spanish), pisé de terre or simply pisé (French), is a technique used in the building of walls using the raw materials of earth, chalk, lime and gravel. It is an ancient building method that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek more sustainable building materials and natural building methods. Rammed earth walls are simple to construct, incombustible, thermally massive, very strong and hardwearing. Conversely they can be labour-intensive to construct without machinery (powered rammers), and if improperly protected or maintained they are susceptible to water damage. Traditionally, rammed earth buildings are found on every continent except Antarctica. From temperate and wet regions of north Europe^[5] to semi dry deserts, mountain areas and the tropics. The availability of useful soil and building design for the local climatic conditions are the factors which favour its use.

The First Rice Hull House, by Paul A. Olivier, Ph.D

Rice hulls are unique within nature. They contain approximately 20% opaline silica in combination with a large amount of the phenyl propanoid structural polymer called lignin. This abundant agricultural waste has all of the properties one could ever expect of some of the best insulating materials. Recent ASTM testing conducted R&D Services of Cookville, Tennessee, reveals that rice hulls do not flame or smolder very easily, they are highly resistant to moisture penetration and fungal decomposition, they do not transfer heat very well, they do not smell or emit gases, and they are not corrosive with respect to aluminum, copper or steel. In their raw and unprocessed state, rice hulls constitute a Class A or Class I insulation material, and therefore, they can be used very economically to insulate the wall, floor and roof cavities of a super-insulated Rice Hull House. This paper also explains how the structure of such a house can be fashioned out of a variety of engineered lumber products derived from sugarcane rind.

There has been a drastic rise in the use of plastic bottles over the past couple decades. Ecoladrillo allows otherwise discarded plastic bottles and trash to be used as a raw material for building construction. Figure 1 is a picture of trash that has become common throughout many parts of the world.^[6]

The name is taken from ladrillo, a Spanish word for a brick or or paving stone made from baked clay.