Earthen Touch Natural Builders, LLC

Earthen Touch Natural Builders is a new home construction firm based in El Rito, New Mexico. The company brings living with awareness and sustainability to every project it undertakes, designing and building homes both on and off-grid. Earthen Touch Natural Builders can design/install rain catchment systems as a primary water source and design and install solar electric (PV) and solar panels for in-floor radiant heating. Earthen Touch Natural Builders is owned and operated by Norbert Hufnagl and Carolyn Riege. Norbert Hufnagl brings classic German engineering to each project. He was born and raised in Germany and moved to the U.S. while working in tech support and consulting for motion control systems for 15 years in Germany and Switzerland. He has an MS in both electrical and mechanical engineering. In the many projects he has managed, his engineering background, combined with a growing experience in natural building systems, has allowed him to solve many complicated problems and bring unique solutions to the table, saving clients time and money.

Following a career in art direction/graphic design and freelance film in Chicago, Carolyn visited her first cob home in Oregon. She set out to learn as much about natural building as possible and began volunteering on projects in Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and New Mexico and attending gatherings where she could work with pioneers in the field. Her role at Earthen Touch Natural Builders is to work in tandem with Norbert on all levels of a project. One of her strengths includes mixing custom colors for finished earthen plasters and adobe floors. She also excels in designing and installing custom tile work for bathrooms and kitchens.