2012: Time for Change

I just found this video by Daniel Pinchbeck and was pleasantly surprised to see earthbag building being demonstrated. It’s just a small segment in the film, but still it’s good to see the word getting out. Text below is their description of the film. “Storyline: 2012: Time For Change is a documentary feature that presents … Read more

Condensation Problems in Cold Climates

Kelly Hart and I have been following the The Year of Mud cob house blog for about 2-3 years. Ziggy, the builder and author of the blog, learned the hard way that cob (actually, earth building in general) is not a good choice in cold climates. Kelly has been warning people for years at GreenHomeBuilding.com … Read more

Earth Sheltered, Solar Powered & Heated Home

The following text and video is from Daniel Geery’s article at OpEdNews. I can really relate to what this guy is saying about sustainable housing. Most of the technology was well known decades ago, as you can see in his video below. His house shows just how simple living off grid can be. “My family … Read more

Instructable: Insulated Bamboo Walls

This Instructable describes an innovative way to build walls using bamboo or wood saplings and bags of insulation. We’ll be using bamboo for this Instructable since it is rapidly renewable, low cost and readily available in many parts of the world. Let’s start with some background information to better understand what is involved. People often … Read more

Vetiver/Clay Follow-up Report

I’m real happy with how the sample vetiver/clay block and earthbag turned out. This follow-up report summarizes some of the pros and cons. You can read the first report here. The block dried in a few days, but the mix in the bag was slow drying (it took about 2-3 times longer to dry) and … Read more

More Earthbag Houses in Pakistan

Today’s post is from a group in Pakistan who’s building flood resistant houses. “Sir, the size of the structure is 20 feet by 12 feet. We have given a buttress on the back wall. We dug an 18 inch trench and put gravel till 6 inches. After doing so we tampered the gravel so that … Read more