CANBE – CBIEN

Trusted engineers with decades of experience

Advocating
Natural Building Solutions

Join us in promoting sustainable construction practices across Canada with natural building materials.

About CANBE

CANBE, the Canadian Alliance for Natural Building Engineering, is a dynamic nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the appropriate use of natural materials and technologies in construction through research, consulting, and public engagement.

En français, nous sommes CBIEN, la Coalition pour le Bâtiment et l’Ingénierie avec l’Environnement Naturel.

Natural building technologies innately minimize negative impacts at the beginning of, throughout, and at the end of their working life, maximizing the positive impact! 

These tend to be low-processed raw and bio-based materials taking diverse forms, ranging from cob, straw bale, and hempcrete, to wood fiber batts, rammed earth to clay 3D printing, and many others.  In our experience and by most measures, natural building technologies tend to be better for the earth and humanity, when designed and built well.

And that’s where CANBE comes in.

CANBE members are experienced consulting engineers and design professionals specializing in natural building materials and technologies. They offer the expertise necessary to design sustainable and regionally appropriate structures that benefit both people and planet.

Part of the Solution

Natural building materials are part of the solution to many challenges facing society today and for many generations to come. With a focus on innovation and sustainability, CANBE aims to proliferate natural building design and construction practices from coast to coast.

CANBE’s mission is to educate and empower Canadians to embrace natural building systems for a healthier, more regenerative future.

CANBE commits to accelerating Canada’s adoption of natural building materials and methods by working collaboratively with individuals, governments, and organizations to enable local and system-wide solutions.

In the Works

We’re just getting started! This is our introduction and commitment to Canadians. In the near future we plan to:

  • share our building code development work,
  • assemble a directory of existing natural building projects in Canada, and
  • share our developing bioregional guideline map of appropriate materials. 

We invite you to join our mailing list and check back with our page regularly as we develop this space and share with you more of our goals and vision for CANBE and what CAN BE.

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How We Can Help

Research & Development

Conducting and reporting on innovative research towards the adoption of natural building technologies in construction.

Strategic Consulting

Offering tailored guidance to public and private industry sectors to effectively integrate best practice natural building technology solutions into their projects, policies, and building codes.

Public Education

Raising awareness and understanding of natural building materials and technologies, through events and outreach, in communities across Canada.

Professional Training

Providing practical training through workshops and technical resources to equip building professionals with the skills to implement natural building materials and technologies.

Team CANBE

CANBE members are experienced consulting engineers and design professionals specializing in natural building materials, technologies, and applications. They stand at the ready to offer the technical expertise necessary to design sustainable and regionally appropriate structures to simultaneously benefit people and the planet.

Anthony Spick

P.Eng., Anthony Spick Engineer

Anthony’s interest and expertise in sustainable design practice, natural building structure and other unconventional structural systems has led to collaborations on groundbreaking projects across Canada for more than 20 years.

Christina Goodvin

P.Eng. Candidate, B.Eng., M.A.Sc., P.D.C., Goodvin Designs and 3D Space Terraform

Over the last 12 years Christina has specialized in natural and alternative materials use in construction, including expertise in hempcrete design, envelope performance, and construction 3D printing applications of earthen materials and biofibers like hempcrete.

Elli Terwiel

P.Eng., OLY, P.E., MMIE

Elli has over 7 years of specialized structural engineering experience in natural building materials and systems, including strawbale, cob, rammed earth, earth masonry unit, heavy timber, and adobe. She also has a Master’s degree in Management of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Tim Krahn

P. Eng., Building Alternatives​​

Tim specializes in engineering design using low-embodied energy, low carbon emission materials such as wood, earth, stone, straw, clay, hemp, and lime. Focused on energy and material efficiency and sustainability in the built environment.

Mark Fleischhaker​

P.Eng., Metaphystations Structural Engineering & Design.​

For more than 14 years, Mark has contributed to over 150 construction projects throughout Canada (and a handful internationally) that showcase the spectrum of sustainability principles.

Your Name?

Your Credentials & Profession

This could be you. Get in touch to find out about joining the CANBE team.

Get in Touch

Send us a message. We look forward to hearing from you!

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