I was browsing Build it Solar.com, one of my favorite websites, and found the Montague Urban Homestead zero energy home pictured above. I was initially attracted to the home design by its simple lines and potential for do-it-yourself owner-builders (the focus audience of our blog). But then I saw the $180,000 price tag and was … Read more
A simple underground house design uses a novel insulating/water-shedding blanket that covers the structure and surrounding soil. The umbrella creates a huge subterranean thermal reservoir that soaks up the sun’s energy during summertime and stores it for winter heating. In many cases, the clever design makes a heating system unnecessary. By John Hait My first … Read more
Earthen Hand Natural Building recently has created an 800 sf earthbag house on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. Passive Annual Heat Storage (PAHS) design features were used in this building, giving it the ability to heat and cool itself passively using the earth beneath the building and the walls themselves as a battery of … Read more
This small structure is the ECHO Asia Seed Bank’s earthbag house that is nearing completion. ECHO promotes community-based seed sharing and saving. It is also part of their mission to recommend appropriate ways for communities and organizations in the developing world to better store seeds. James (ECHO Asia intern) and Lue (Assistant Seed Bank Director) … Read more
Mike, in Texas, has been asking some interesting questions about wrapping a post and beam frame with tubes of rice hulls. He thinks this is probably the fastest way to build an earthbag house. He may very well be right. Conversations and blog posts like this one are my favorite. Here’s part of my email … Read more
“We are a tribal, egalitarian community focused on living in harmony with the Earth, practicing yoga and meditation, sharing a raw vegan lifestyle, and creating a permaculture farm with lush and abundant food forests in a warm tropical environment. We are in the process of acquiring a piece of land in the Puna District of … Read more