Interview with Peggy Reents and Thana Joe Uthaipattrakoon (nickname Joe). Owen: I first heard about earth building in Thailand from Janell Kapoor of Kleiwerks International fame who said there are thousands of new earthen houses in Thailand. That really amazed me and so I’ve set out to learn the details about the modern earth building … Read more
This week is the 3rd anniversary of Earthbag Building Blog. A lot has happened this past year, and our blog continues to grow in content and readership. There are now 335 posts and well over 1,000 comments. Thanks for your support. We love hearing about your earthbag projects and hope you will continue sharing information … Read more
The Earth Hands and Houses Blog has some good photos of the first earthbag dome (a root cellar) in Sussex, England. The workshop was taught by Paulina Wojciechowska, an architect and author of Building with Earth, a guide to Flexible-Form earthbag construction, who has been studying, building and teaching natural building since 1996. Nicholas Harris, … Read more
Ward-Karet wanted to gain some real world experience in the earthbag construction method while building in a manner that was in keeping with the surroundings. With a budget of $1,000, she designed and built the Helixa Shelter using earthbags, adobe, sunbrella fabric, and scraps from the architecture school. Read more at Inhabitat: Helical Earthbag Shelter … Read more
As you may well know, the recent floods in Pakistan destroyed or damaged 2 million homes, affecting 20 million people. PAKSBAB, an NGO building strawbale houses in Pakistan, uses gravel-filled earthbag foundations to protect their houses from water damage. To date, 22 houses have been built. In addition to providing flood protection, PAKSBAB uses earthbag … Read more
For years, I’ve ruled out building with brick because of the large amount of energy consumed in the manufacturing process, and the associated environmental toll. Like concrete and other high embodied energy materials, high-fired brick is generally not considered a sustainable building option (excluding recycled brick, of course). Although high-fired brick is extremely durable, there … Read more