I’m Emily, and I’m really, really passionate about building a better world.
Biolithic Builds comes from my lifelong pursuit to find the most good I can do.
How did that come to be?
In my early childhood, techno-utopian media like Popular Science Magazine inspired me to pursue technological solutions.
It was clear to me from age ten that climate change was the problem of our time, and I decided my career would be in helping fix it.
Me as a teenager at science camp.
By the end of college, I was on the right path… or so it seemed.
- Graduate with engineering degree
- Get a great job in clean energy
- … Profit?
Everything had seemingly gone to plan. But I was still searching for knowledge and understanding of my Big Question:
Where are we really going with all of this, and where could we go?
Or in other words… What would it look like for humanity to live well, in the long term?
I was sick of the lack of change and the defeatist status quo. How the insanely consumptive 21st century lifestyle was now seen as a non-negotiable.
I was frustrated by how popular media loved to imagine dystopian worlds where Earth was a wasteland, and humanity barely scraping by on technological life-support.
But where were the visions that we’d actually want to aspire towards? Where was the good?
A surprising moment of clarity came from a controversial moment at COP28
The conference’s president said, “Please, show me a phase-out of fossil fuels that will allow for sustainable socio-economic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.”
Into caves?
Into caves?
Into CAVES???
At first, I was indignant.
But as ridiculous of a statement that was, it contained a grain of insight.
The President of COP28 probably didn’t know how to build a house without fossil fuels. Maybe he had never laid a hand on a saw. Of course he would be afraid of a world where the industries that built his homes didn’t exist! Maybe he would have to go find a cave.
And what did I know about building houses, much less without a drop of fossil fuel? Nada.
While hyperbolic, his statement reflected a real fear: the fear that right now, as individuals, we wouldn’t make it very long without fossil fuels.
How could we quit fossil fuels at the speed needed, if our fear for survival was in the way?
So I went back to basics. I asked myself:
How would we provide these things today, with zero fossil fuels?
So much of sustainability talk is about what might, speculatively, be possible in the future. I didn’t want to gamble and wait: I wanted to know what was physically possible now.
I knew the least about shelter, but it fascinated me the most.
I started reading about Passivhaus, and then slipped sideways into the world of natural materials. Materials that could be harvested, processed, and installed without industrial machinery.
I quickly learned that you could build with materials as simple as the subsoil beneath your feet, and that it could really work.
You didn’t have to buy stuff manufactured with materials extracted all over the world, shipped from one place to another.
The first natural building I ever visited was the Council Hall at Earthaven Ecovillage. Made with round timbers and lumber harvested from the land it was on, clay plasters, straw bales, and cob, it was the most beautiful space I had ever been in.
It just felt different. Magical. Calm. Comfortable. Loved.
By the time I went to my first natural building workshop, I was already 90% sure this was it for me.
Natural building was a portal into a world where meeting our needs doesn’t mean sacrificing our values and wellbeing.
Where physical labor is a healthy and empowering part of a fulfilling life.
Where we don’t have to choose between sitting at a desk 40 hours a week and toiling in toxic materials for 40 hours a week.
Since 2024, I’ve been working full-time on becoming a natural builder.
I’ve spent thousands of hours learning, building, and teaching, but this is just the start.
This is Biolithic Builds
Biolithic Builds is one person. Biolithic Builds is a community. Biolithic Builds is a statement that we want a better world, and that we can build it.
I look forward to meeting you on this journey!
As a volunteer…
As a workshopper…
As a colleague…
As a client…
Empowerment isn’t theory. Empowerment isn’t waiting for someone else to figure it out.
Empowerment is having the ability to do something important for you and your community, today.
About Me, A Person
Soapbox aside, hi!
I’m Emily, and I live in Eastern Massachusetts. I love it here, but I’d love it more if there weren’t ticks and mosquitos.
I’ve always loved working with my hands and figuring out how stuff works. I went to college for chemical engineering and had a very short but successful career as a renewable energy technology engineer before jumping ship to sling mud.
While Biolithic Builds has been a huge part of my life for the past few years, I also make sure to find time outside of work to be a whole person. My hobbies include bike touring, baking, and identifying trees.
On my of dreams is to build hyper-sustainable co-housing community near a major city that offers guest stays and workshops. So if you have a few million dollars or a piece of land to spare, hit me up.
biolithic builds 