Earthbag Building

Natural Building with Balecob

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The current issue of Mother Earth News has this article written by Kyle Chandler-Isacksen with Conrad Rogue; photos by House Alive. What is shown here are excerpts; you can read the entire article at the above link. Balecob is an infill technique that uses straw bales and cob to quickly create highly insulating, roof-supporting, and … Read more

Earthbag Houses in Ecuador

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I just got a nice update on what Ed Konderla has been up to in Ecuador, first building an earthbag house and then a guest house: The location is in the Andes Mountains, Southern Ecuador…  very seismically active which necessitated a robust construction technique. The earthbag construction has been the way to go for me. … Read more

Thank you Owen

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Before Owen died, he got this email: Dear Owen, I just heard that you’re not so well. I just wanted to show you a pic of the Hyperadobe earthbag building that YOU inspired me to build. I will be forever grateful. It’s not finished yet…2 more layers of lime casein paint on the exterior, and finish … Read more

Couple Builds Dome to Escape Mortgage Trap

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Dismayed by the costs of home ownership in Australia, a West Australian couple is building their castle out of earth bags to escape the mortgage trap. Kate and Scott Ryan-Taylor made the decision to build with earthbags after realizing the conventional path to home ownership was too costly. The couple estimate their home will cost … Read more

A Very Brief History of Earthbag Building

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Reader Morgan, from the Sustainable Life School, just uploaded this video of a very brief history of earthbag building. I might add that missing from this history is the role that Gernot Minke at Kassel Polytechnic College in Germany played. In 1976 he began to investigate the question of how natural building materials like sand … Read more