Earthen Homes Could Offer Sustainable Alternative To Stick-Built Houses

"Ann and Gord Baird's dream house has in-floor heating, solar and wind power to run appliances, a plug-in for an electric car and a wall of windows to capture the sun's heat from the south.

It's all very contemporary - except the house is made of mud.

Ann, a former financial manager, and Gord, an auto body shop owner, both quit their jobs to construct their 2,150-square-foot home of cob, a centuries-old construction technique using dirt, clay and straw."

"When completed, it will be the first code-approved, load-bearing, high-occupancy two-storey cob house in North America."