Framing Lumber: 

We have incorporated the use of regrowth sustainable #2 and better douglas fir for the core framing material of our structures. We don't use clear fir as it most often comes from virgin owl habitat trees.

As with the fir framing we also stay away from plywoods which in the clearer grades use urea formaldehyde glues which give off gas. We use oriented strandboard made from regrowth sustainable aspen trees grown primarily in Canada over a 9 year period. This material uses a phoenol more stable glue. Sturdi floor wood products from Weyerhaeuser Corporation which we feel is the best product our there. Commonly called O.S.B.(oriented strand board).  We use this product in 4'x8' sheet form both in our sub floors as tongue and groove as well as in our roof decking. As square edge 7/16" in our wall shear assemblies under our various sidings.

We have incorporated earth lime and straw and clay based finishes in some of our greener yurts. Vital Systems batches at our factory share yard in Ukiah. They apply with a plaster spray machine and by hand on the lath plaster mesh.

James Hardie from Australia developed what we at Vital Designs feel is the best fireproof paintable, stainable, exterior siding available on the market today. We use the sierra panel often pre-stained to look like re-sawn siding as Hardi-Panel. There is also a stucco panel as well. This fibrous cement 5/16'" thick material can add shear, site applied with either screws or 1-1/2" roofing nails and can be used as shear. We prefer to site install over tyvek house wrap and often over 7/16" O.S.B. shear panels. It has a 30 year warranty and will never split or degrade.

Another renewable siding we've been using in California and is grown in the sierra's is #2 white pine reversible tongue and groove (one side with a resawn face). We use this product in our interior ceilings with the untreated aroma and resawn look. We rarely seal or stain this material in the inside of the house. As an exterior we often apply either a minwax colonial maple stain or a watco danish finish oil either medium walnut or for a redwood look the fruitwood stain.Then we apply two or three coats of boiled linseed oil as needed over the life of the structure. Our winning combo is to use pine on the exterior horizontally from the floor up and the Hardi-Panel as a skirt to the ground with a matching stain, see the below picture used on our fern village yurts at Orr hot springs in the coastal mountains in the hills above Ukiah.

Straw bale bearing walls as well as non bearing walls are labor intensive. This wonderful super insulated wall has a soft appeal. Bales provide both a cooler home in summer and a warmer home in winter alternative to our frame wall systems. Our associate contractor, whom we share our shop yard, Vital Systems, provides these custom walls. Our clients often buy California yurts roofs systems to set on top of Vital Systems bale walls homes. If you have a rich budget and or a lot of time to put into this effort this may be for you.

We are presently building a sod roof cluster on a hillside above Ukiah with a roof to roof transition stair and perimeter roof railing as well as a floating deck floor hang out area on the roof interconnect. We have been building sod roof systems in the United States for over 3 decades. Our oldest still in use is the sod roof solar village at Glen Echo park in Washington D.C. I built this village back in 1972 for the American Crafts Council in our national park. We now incorporate the latest floating roof liner technologies and perimeter roof edge gutters/railings as well as automatic drip systems to keep your roof green. This roof is more expensive than our 50 tear elk fireproof shingle roof systems .

Both solar hot water heating as well as power generation systems provide energy independence for many of our clients. We also have built many passive earth cooling systems which brings water cooled air thru tunnels in the ground outside of the structure which are ducted into the yurt as needed. Our oldest system in Potter Valley has been providing a cool environment of cold healthier moist air for the yurt dwellers for over 20 years now.