Here’s the fascinating inside story of how they built Frank Loyd Wright’s famed School of Architecture at Taliesin West. Desert concrete or dry-pack is more sustainable than typical concrete because it uses free local sand and stone, no gravel and very little water. Large stones reduce use of cement. “There was a query on the … Read more
From www.visualnews.com comes this story about using plastic bottles filled with sand as bricks for building: A surplus of empty plastic bottles is something that not only affects Africa, but the entire planet. In a small village in Nigeria, a solution has been applied to not only provide shelter in a poverty stricken country, but … Read more
A jali is the term for a perforated brick, stone or latticed screen, usually with an ornamental pattern. They’re widely popular in hot climates such as India, because they provide light and ventilation, and don’t require glass or costly windows. You can build jalis in earthbag walls. Laurie Baker was a master at incorporating jalis … Read more
Kelly Hart just completed a new Project Page at EarthbagBuilding.com on the earthbag clinic in Thailand. He added links to the previous blog posts, but there’s a good chance most readers won’t notice and so I decided to do an extra post. It’s projects like this that demonstrate how practical earthbag building is, even for … Read more
Imagine having a toasty place to sit or sleep in the dead of winter. It’s fairly easy to make heated earthbag benches and beds. All you do is run PEX or copper tubing between courses of bags. The bench or bed could be heated from a water jacket on a wood stove or you could … Read more
Anyone know where these are available new? Note the reference to the old Mother Earth News Magazine article (free online) and the warning about providing a pressure relief valve. Heat-Booster.com Related: Exchanger Wood Stove (wood stove and oven with copper coil and salvaged water tank) Tony’s Homemade Hot Water Heater (not part of a wood … Read more