I have been consulting with Mike Parker who started www.childrenofthedump.org in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico about how to build inexpensive, ecological housing for poor families who subsist off recycling materials from the city dump. They typically live in shacks and shanties that are often not adequate for their needs, nor do they provide proper housing for … Read more
We believe the combination of new developments in earthbag building is a game-changer, a breakthrough that is gradually pushing earthbag into the mainstream. Long term readers have been following these developments, but I will briefly recap some key developments for new readers since there’s a recent surge in traffic. – Engineered plans are now available … Read more
Julien Balmer’s Freeform House at Phangan Earthworks in Koh Phangan, Thailand has been chosen as the cover shot for my upcoming earthbag book. Long time readers may remember Koh Phangan as one of last year’s earthbag workshops. Hubert Huot and Julien have built some of the most amazing earthbag structures to date and I am … Read more
Due to the enormous popularity of my first earthbag instructable, I’ve added a new one about building roundhouses. This is the most comprehensive earthbag roundhouse information published anywhere on the Internet, with step-by-step directions and lots of photos. “We built this earthbag roundhouse in 2010 as part of an earthbag workshop in Thailand, and finished … Read more
Dr. Sunny Cai, an architect and Associate Professor at the University of Science and Technology in Beijing sent me news of his most recent earthbag work. It’s interesting to note his Ph.D. is in Historic Chinese Earth Architecture. “To be a designer and professor in university for architectural class teaching, I always advocate low carbon … Read more
What’s the difference between a cool pantry and root cellar? Humidity. Root cellars are very practical for storing certain types of produce, and have been a key part of sustainable households for centuries. Root cellars are kept fairly moist in order to best preserve the crops that are stored there. However, the high humidity limits … Read more