Lowtech Graph lists low-tech options for every need of a home. Here you can compare them, find tutorials to build them, and link them together into a circular system. Why low-tech?
Yurt (round lattice-frame dwelling)
Passive · New build only
One of 9 ways to meet this need. Cost, carbon, footprint and rankings are relative to other solutions for the same need, not absolute.
What your site needs
A level, drained platform; a stove and ventilation if it is lived in through a wet winter.
A round home of a folding wooden lattice wall and roof poles meeting at a central ring, covered in felt or canvas. It needs no foundation and can be put up in a couple of hours. Lived in all year, it needs a stove, insulation and good airing, and the cover wears out after 8 to 15 years.
Cover 8-15 years depending on exposure; a cared-for wooden frame lasts decades (a manufacturer's figures).
Embodied carbon
Low
Space / material use
Medium
Output timing
None
Skill to repair
Basic
Regulation (FR example)
A yurt lived in as a main home at least eight months a year, with no foundation and easily dismantled at any time, is a "résidence démontable constituant l'habitat permanent" (Code de l'urbanisme, art. R111-51), which the commune's PLU has to allow. Its footprint then sets the formality as for any small building: none up to 5 m², a déclaration préalable up to 20 m², a permis de construire above.
Levels are relative to the other options for this need, not absolute. Fewer dots is lighter.
Yurt (round lattice-frame dwelling) (This page) Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Regular · Change to daily life: Way of living · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want a home you can put up in hours, move, and live in without a foundation.
Compact rectangular footprint Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: None · Upkeep: None · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want the cheapest house to build and to heat for its floor area.
Vault or dome shell (walls and roof in one) Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want a whole building in earth, with no timber or metal needed for the roof.
Kerterre (small hand-sculpted hemp-lime building) Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Way of living · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want to build small rooms or a shed by hand, cheaply, with no frame and no moulds.
Roundhouse (round timber frame with a reciprocal roof) Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want a round home from local timber, straw or cob, with a roof that needs no central post.
A-frame house Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Low · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want a simple form you can build from a kit, that sheds snow easily.
Geodesic dome Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Medium · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Regular · Change to daily life: Occasional · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want a light, strong shell built from short timbers that are easy to handle.
Earth-bermed house (earth banked against the walls) Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: Medium · Skill to build: Intermediate · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: None · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you want far less heating without digging the house into the ground.
Underground courtyard house (sunken pit dwelling) Can I use it? Not in a flat · New build only What does it cost me? Upfront cost: High · Skill to build: Specialist · Upkeep: Light · Change to daily life: Way of living · Works without the grid: Yes Choose it if you have flat, firm, dry ground in a warm climate and want a private home around its own courtyard.
We don’t list sizing or quantities, as the yield of each technique depends on the quality of its build. The catalogue compares options but doesn’t dimension them. Regulatory notes are indicative, with a French example, and need to be confirmed locally.