There is a fun and free online tool for calculating the materials needed for building earthbag domes. I think that it errors on the conservative side, but this is probably a good thing. If you go to www.terra-form.org you can interact with the calculator.
September 28th – October 24th 2015
“Come join United Earth Builders in Concho, AZ for a four-week workshop in which you will participate in building a 12′ diameter dome from start to finish. We will be focusing on foundations, earthbag/superadobe applications and climate-appropriate design, dome geometry, form-building, door and window installation, and plaster work.
CalEarth, the Superadobe folks who helped build the earthbag domes that comprise the Pegasus Children’s Project near Kathmandu, Nepal have sent out this press release:
Superadobe/Earthbag Orphanage Withstands Nepal Earthquake
Cal-Earth Low-cost Sustainable Earthen Housing Solutions Proved Effective and Safe in Earthquakes
I own a few acres of desert property in Southern New Mexico and have often wondered what the underground temperature would be about 6 feet below the surface in this region. Summers can be quite hot and winters are fairly mild, so digging into the ground might be a good way to develop a residence that would be pleasant all year round, with very little additional energy input. To test this theory out, I thought that somehow burying a recording thermometer deep under ground would provide useful information.
Many people have asked about burying earthbag domes, and unfortunately I know of few actual examples of doing this. So I thought that a fun and informative experiment would be to build a small earthbag dome underground on our property, place the recording thermometer inside, and completely close it up for a year.
“There were many goals to be achieved with this training program. The final project was to leave them with 2 dorms; one for boys, one for girls, and one for the teacher. The nomads were to build it in order to learn how to build something, as they are not accustomed to building. We had trained 23 nomads on how to build domes with reclaimed rice and flour bags.
We love getting feedback from readers. The following comment was sent by Pedro Ramirez in response to a previous story about Don’t Build Domes in Wet Climates Without Roofs.