2012 International Straw Bale Conference - Estes Park, CO
From Colorado Straw Bale Association to Natural Building Alliance
Colorado Straw Bale Association (COSBA) began in 2000 to address the growing need for public understanding of straw-bale construction in Colorado and the surrounding region. We have held education workshops and annual conferences throughout the state that include keynote speakers, panel discussions, and local straw-built home tours. In 2012, COSBA hosted the extremely successful International Straw Building Conference in Estes Park, CO.
With the continuing growth of natural building, COSBA decided that 2019 was the year to grow as well. In an effort to include all natural building techniques and to encompass a larger geographical range, we decided to rename our organization to the Natural Building Alliance (NBA). With our expansion, we will continue to advocate for the benefits of straw bale construction. Additionally, we will also be advocating for all natural building techniques. Whether, compressed earth block, hempcrete, light straw clay, cob, or any other natural materials-based construction technique, NBA will be at the center of providing education and hands-on experience to the public. Although Colorado has been our region of focus until this year, NBA will be a voice for not only Colorado but for all of the inter-mountain states and beyond.
OFFICERS
Jean Lotus – Executive Director
Jean Lotus is a Fort Collins, CO-based journalist and publisher with expertise in bio-based building materials. She has published four hemp-building directories and has run an online trade journal for hemp-lime building since 2021. Jean participated in a DOE incubator for decarbonizing building material innovation. Jean has advised the state of Colorado in industrial hemp policy in 2019 and 2023. She has expertise in the climate-based US regulatory and policy changes in decarbonizing building materials. In addition to her Director position at NaBA, she is a board member of the US Hemp Building Association and a member of the ASTM C-16 bio-based insulation subcommittee.
BOARD MEMBERS
Dave Kaplan, Board President
General Manager, Lead Designer, Hands-on Building at Elevated Design-Build, Ft. Collins, CO
Elevated Design Build is a full-service design and construction company with over 60 years of combined experience in the design and construction of custom homes and timber frame structures. In that time, we have been involved in over 800 projects in 14 states and 4 different countries. We love this stuff, and have earned the ability to instill the things we value most into each of our projects and the way we operate our business.
Lindsey Love, Treasurer/Secretary
Founder, Regen Building, Driggs, ID
Lindsey is committed to incorporating natural and raw materials wherever possible in any project. She has balanced her architectural and building career with many seasons of construction work doing everything from framing to fine plastering, electrical work and management. Also an educator, Lindsey has led natural building workshops in North Carolina and was a visiting lecturer at Universidad de Valle de Mexico and continues to teach natural materials workshops in her free time. She has a fierce belief that design enhances our experience through creating connection. Lindsey is a Certified Passive House Tradesperson and holds a Certificate in Healthy Materials from Parsons New School of Design, is certified by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, a member of the American Institute of Architects and the International Living Future Institute. She holds her architectural license in Idaho.
Cheryl Corsiglia
Co-Founder: LivingCraft Design-Build
Coming from a lineage of builders, with a grandfather who started his own home building company in Florida, Cheryl had an early education in carpentry and tool use from her father. After a degree in Environmental Science sparked her passion for sustainably, she headed to Moab to work on an organic vegetable farm. While there, she discovered natural building, interning with Community Rebuilds and building her first straw bale home for a low income family in 2010. She followed this up with a six week Adobe and Earthen Building course in Nicaragua in 2014. Returning to Colorado, she worked briefly for Artesano plaster, meeting her business partners with whom she would eventually found Living Craft Design Build. Living Craft aims to meet the needs of urban homeowners and businesses in the Front Range of Colorado, providing low carbon and natural solutions while incorporating advances from modern building science.
Mark Jensen
Mark Jensen has spent the last two decades building and teaching others the ins and outs of straw bale construction, healthy building material choices, and renewable energy options. He worked as the Construction Program Director for the nonprofit Red Feather Development Group for nine years on Indian Reservations throughout the west; teaching volunteers and tribal members every step of construction as they built a home for a local tribal family. Mark’s ability to teach others has also taken him to Kenya and Nepal to teach straw bale construction as a form of safe, healthy and affordable housing. It is very important for Mark to continue to give back to the communities that are an integral part of his life and that have given him so much. Annually, Mark makes several pro bono trips to reservations in the west offering up his skills to better other people’s living conditions. Mark recently served on the Board of Directors for US Green Building Council’s Montana Chapter.
Kluane Gorsuch
Architect at LoveSchack Architecture, Helena, MT
Growing up in Alaska and now finding home in Montana, Kluane enjoys working as an Architect and advocating natural building materials’ ability to make a big impact on inhabitants’ lives, in balance with making minimal impact on the environment. In academia, she focused on natural building strategies for multigenerational housing in rural Alaska with the use of rammed earth and traditional turf roofs. Currently Kluane has helped design a straw bale panel home in Victor, ID which has sparked more interest in the local community to build consciously. Kluane is enthralled by the positive impact architectural design can have on individuals, families, and society at large. She believes that every project should both reflect and enhance the lives of its inhabitants. When not designing, she enjoys spending time in her garden, pottery, out hiking, on cross-country skis, or cozying up with friends and family.
Susan Klinker
Susan Klinker is a passionate advocate for regenerative building systems and their potential to impact climate change. Susan holds a masters degree in international development studies, focusing on issues of shelter. As a partner with Architecture Design Alliance in Philadelphia, for more than 10 years, Susan was the head of interiors and managed large scale commercial projects, supervising the design team, and interfacing with all trades onsite. She continues her passion for natural building through work with Builders Without Borders and Strawtegi (strawtegi.org), a company she co-founded to help advance natural building work. Susan recently built a net zero carbon footprint accessory dwelling unit in Salt Lake City. The structure demonstrates how natural materials like straw, hemp and wood can create durable, high-performance structures while helping to draw down and store atmospheric carbon. The ADU is the first permitted structure of its kind in the US insulated with chopped straw and has been featured in several publications, including The Salt Lake Tribune, American Institute of Architects Utah Chapter, Reflexions Magazine and HomebuildersCAN. She is a contributing author in books Building Without Borders and The Art of Natural Building. In addition, Susan helped to establish the Utah Cultural Celebration Center, in West Valley City, where she has worked in collaboration with diverse, grassroots arts and cultural organizations to host public programs that promote cross cultural experience and understanding.
Mateo Salinas Clarke
Owner/Builder Adobero, Taos, NM
Mateo discovered his passion for adobe construction through family heritage, inspired by stories of his abuelo making bricks in the Rio Grande Valley. This connection to ancestral building practices led him to pursue formal education in Adobe Construction at Santa Fe Community College. Mateo’s essay about his experience at SFCC and his belief in community colleges to advance natural building trades was published in the Fall 2024 issue of The Last Straw. For the past decade, Mateo has worked in civic technology, developing open-source software for government initiatives including mobility infrastructure, veterans benefits, and universal preschool. Mateo sees parallels between his work in technology for social good and the ancient technologies of earthen construction, viewing natural building as a hopeful response to the climate crisis. In 2025, he plans to begin construction of his own home in Taos while continuing to support the Natural Building Alliance through technology initiatives and conference planning. When not coding or working with earth, Mateo enjoys playing soccer and music, riding bikes, and eating tacos.