Sitting in the Urban Grind Coffeehouse in Portland, OR, talking about natural building with Lydia Doleman, owner of the Portland-based natural building company Flyer Hammer Productions, I could feel my jealousy of her job coalescing. I had just completed her class An Introduction to Carpentry for Women, and was ready to trade in my computer – my current primary tool – for a table saw. Inspired and empowered by the possibilities that my new skill presented, I was compelled to find out what it’s like to be a woman in a (stereo)typically male profession and to understand the spin that natural building puts on the construction trade.

A builder, sculptor, teacher, consultant, advocate, and small-business owner, Doleman certainly has a number of ways to classify herself. One thread that weaves through all her titles is her passion for ecology, social justice and art. As natural building is a perfect synthesis of those three elements, it was only, well, natural that Doleman came into the field.

“Natural building is more a philosophy than a construction technique,” said Doleman.

Despite working in a traditionally male-dominated profession, Doleman claims her womanhood has not hindered her much, which she attributes to the more progressive urban culture of the Pacific Northwest. In fact, she believes that being a woman in a 'man’s' world has its advantages.

“Not to stereotype, but women generally have better communications skills,” Doleman admitted. She also believes that women in carpentry tend to put more pride and commitment into their work, since most had to work extra hard to get where they are; to many men in the trade, carpentry is just a job.

The less-defined gender boundaries inherent to the philosophy and techniques of natural building engender further advantages for women in the trade, as well as for the built environment at-large.

“Conventional building, which is traditionally male-dominated, creates a narrow margin for how people define space; generally, space is designed from a white male perspective,” said Doleman. Natural building, which inherently has a much more equal gender demographic, deconstructs the walls of that narrow perspective, broadening the scope from which we define space and breeching some of the social discord that conventional building can create.

“Since natural building is not as technology-dependent as conventional building, it’s a much more democratic and egalitarian trade,” she said. The tools used are, for the most part, simple. The materials used have no or little environmental impact, are socially responsible and readily available. Even “green” building, which often focuses on finding the most innovative technology to create an efficient building, is not quite as inclusive and accessible as natural building.

In addition to the egalitarianism and democratic ideals that natural building supports, there are further tenets of the trade that, not surprisingly, echo the “feminine” tenets of sustainability illustrated in the book Women in Green: Voices of Sustainable Design, which I wrote about in a previous blog. For one, natural building focuses on relationships – the relationship with materials, as well as with one’s community. Using local materials drawn from the very environment that the structure is being built on erodes the disconnection that people often have with the world around them – a disconnect that results from the less “natural” materials of the conventional built environment.

The natural building philosophy is also focused on the social connections the building process can create, fostering community participation and collaboration. Especially in Portland, there are many natural building projects that were created by a community effort. The cob façade of the Rebuilding Center on Mississippi Avenue, for example, is a project that was designed and led by Doleman, but its construction involved a large community effort. It’s also the second commercially permitted cob structure in Oregon. Other community-oriented projects in Oregon under Doleman’s (tool)belt include Dignity Village and the first permitted straw bale house in Multnomah, Washington and Clark Counties.

“We’re at a crossroads of having a lot of problems and having the technology to solve these problems. The key piece is having the social technology – working with natural materials in groups, using a participatory decision-making process allows us to build in a way that makes us love where we are, which in an of itself creates more exciting possibilities,” said Doleman.

Are you excited about the possibility of remodeling or building au natural (and I don’t mean in the nude)? Keep in mind the ABC’s of natural building --local, low-tech, natural, non-toxic, reclaimed and socially-responsible – and check out these local vendors to get your project started:

• ecohaus (2 coupons: 15% off OSMO Hardwax Oil, 10% off American Clay Earth Plaster)
• Greener Lifestyles (15% off)
• Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities (10% off hardwood at ecohaus)
• and many more

Remodeling? Preview our building products coupons before you head to the store.