Joel Meadows is a phenomenal human who happens to be a permaculture teacher, rocket oven engineer, energy geek, green tech sceptic, sculptor, illustrator, musician and composting ninja.

A comprehensive overview of passive solar design from two American solar pioneers, this book provides both the principles and practical detail needed to design buildings that use climate as a resource rather than something to overcome with energy.

A detailed practical guide to using raw earth — sand-clay render, straw-clay render, and clay paints — for finishing interior and exterior walls in new and existing buildings. Henderson draws on extensive Australian and international experience, including work at Melliodora, to make natural rendering accessible. The skills are easy to learn, require minimal tools, and connect practitioners to a deep craft tradition.

Comfort doesn’t come from cranking the air-con — it comes from design, behaviour, and re-learning how to live with the seasons. This RetroSuburbia chapter covers thermal mass, passive solar design, window management, clothing, and the seasonal rhythms of living with your climate rather than fighting it.

Originally published in 1991 and updated with a foreword reflecting on the 2009 Black Saturday fires, The Flywire House documents a post-bushfire permaculture design project in Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges. Holmgren and architect Maggie Fooke used the design as a case study integrating passive cooling, fire resilience, and whole-systems thinking.