It’s a thrill to announce the completion of our earthbag cool pantry. As you can read in previous posts, this structure is designed to keep food cool without electricity. It’s a simple design that anyone can build on the side of their house. Cool Pantry Update Cool Pantries: Storing Food Without Using Power
This video is by David Easton, the well known owner of Rammed Earth Works in California and author of The Rammed Earth House, the best selling book on the subject. Here’s Wiki’s description: “Soil cement is a construction material, a mix of pulverized natural soil with small amount of Portland cement and water, usually processed … Read more
Yesterday’s video about How the Pyramids Were Built shows how loose limestone can be turned to stone. This method seems easier and simpler than using MICP, don’t you think? This seems like a good time to experiment with geopolymer cast stone to make the first ever earthbag stone dome. The mountain range near our home … Read more
Alternate title: How to Build an Earthbag House That Will Last as Long as the Pyramids. I can’t say for sure that the pyramids were built this way, but this video describes a reasonable theory of how the blocks of the pyramids were made with natural materials from the Giza Plateau – limestone, kaolin clay, … Read more
Here’s a natural substitute for steel rebar. It seems like this material would work perfectly with earthbag building, especially in seismic areas where additional reinforcing is typically required. Image and content below is from the Smarter Building Systems website. “Zeebars Basalt Rebar is an alternative to steel and fiberglass for reinforcing concrete. Made from volcanic … Read more
The subject of sun tubes or solar tube skylights keeps coming up in email exchanges with readers, because they’re often more efficient than conventional skylights. There are numerous competing brands and designs, but the basic concept is a skylight that directs light through a mirrored tube. Some designs like the Solatube skylight pictured above bend … Read more