“Sacred Garden Sanctuary is an intentional community dedicated to sustainable farming and lifestyle, on 40 acres of land located near Douglas, Arizona.
We are currently planning to use a modified Cal-Earth (earth bag/tube) construction, after completing a trial dome. We plan to use a more inexpensive tubing material, which is used for onion sacks, rather than Cal-Earth “sandbag” tubing. Adobe domes will be heated in the winter and cooled in the summer mainly using passive solar and thermal mass to moderate day/night temperatures, which can vary up to 50 degrees in a 24hr period. This may be supplemented by wood stoves in the winter and evaporative cooling in the summer, if necessary. Progress on the dome has been slow due to other priorities, but we have done some more coating with the asphalt emulsion layer.
After putting on a partial “finish” coat of plaster, we have decided to rock-and-mortar the exterior instead of plastering. This will have the following advantages:
• Higher longevity
• Reduce maintenance to near-zero
• Add some further structural integrity
• Improved aesthetics”
Source: Sacred Garden Sanctuary
Owen, what are your thoughts about the rock and mortar exterior they did? I am building a dome and have wondered about this technique. thanks
This method would work best in desert areas. Cracks will always develop between stones and mortar, and water will penetrate eventually. Far better to build a roofed dome in higher rainfall areas. Search that phrase and you’ll find a number of domes with roofs. Either that or use standard cement plaster. That’s what most people do.
If anyone else is interested, here’s a photo of their stone covered dome. Looks great.
http://sacredgardensanctuary.org/sites/default/files/graphics/aug11cornergardenNE.jpg