Rebuilding Knowledge: Using Gamified Education to Shift Perceptions of Natural Building

Abstract

As climate change accelerates, bringing higher temperatures and more aggressive storms and natural disasters, the need for our built environment to reflect a place of resilience is becoming increasingly urgent. The construction and building sector is responsible for nearly 40% of global carbon emissions, and this doesn’t include its broader environmental damage, including issues like deforestation, toxic air and water pollution, excessive waste, and other forms of ecological degradation. Despite the proven benefits of natural building materials like adobe, straw bale, and earthbag, these and other natural building styles remain on the fringe of mainstream construction. This capstone investigates the role that education, training and outreach play in furthering understanding and acceptance of these building methods, and explores the potential of gamification in contributing to that shift. Drawing from expert interviews, a public feedback survey, and iterative design and testing of a gamified learning tool titled Rebuild, this project examines how the creation of an immersive, emotionally engaging board game can shift perspectives on natural building, and the sustainability of the construction industry as a whole. By targeting learners outside conventional sustainability spaces, the game offers a tangible entry point that helps normalize natural building concepts, and support wider adoption. Findings from the study suggest that Rebuild is a promising tool for expanding natural building education, and could be further refined into a scalable, innovative pathway for knowledge distribution.