the shotcrete or gunnite concrete installation technology of swimming pool builders. It requires only one form wall (with reinforcing steel attached), onto which the mixed earthen material is shot to the desired thickness, and then finished on the outside with a hand float. P.I.S.E. considerably reduces time and labour inputs, and utilizes the services of conventional building trades, thus enhancing its appeal to the mainstream building industry (Grometer, 2002). The cost of rammed earth construction today is, in North America, roughly equal to wood-framed construction. But that cost should be considerably reduced if its popularity can be increased. New more user-friendly technologiesfor both the professional and the do-it-yourselferare inevitable, and growing economies of scale promise new efficiencies in soil assessment, mixing and installation methods. On the spectrum of natural building, spanning from household/informal to professional/formal modes, rammed earth seems destined to carve out a niche in eco-building more on the professional and market side.