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
We have already reported about the amazing survival of many earthbag structures in Nepal after their big quake. This fact is now being picked up by some major news outlets. For instance media conglomerate 3News in New Zealand has produced news accounts both on television and online:
“They say earthquakes don’t kill people, but buildings do – no more so than in Nepal where entire villages have been flattened. But in the rural village of Sangachok, there is one building that is still standing, all thanks to the handiwork of a team half a world away.
In Sangachok, there is destruction as far as the eye can see, but among the rubble and crumbled buildings there is some good news, and what could be a lesson for Nepal in earthquake resilience. Nelson-based First Steps Himalaya raised money to build the training centre for teachers to improve education in rural Nepal. The building remains standing even after the earthquake.
Volunteers from New Zealand and Nepal used rice bags filled with soil, which are laid out like bricks, covered with chicken wire and then plastered over. The Auckland company that helped construct it hopes it can deliver much more than that.
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.
Imagine a builder who spent their whole life building houses in their town for family, friends and other people they know.
“We have launched an urgent appeal to help provide relief for FSH supported villages in rural Nepal devastated by the April 25th earthquake. We are deeply concerned about the welfare of the children and families supported by First Steps Himalaya in our 22 project villages.
You can turn an ordinary post and beam structure into a superinsulated tiny home for very low cost, and minimal time and effort. This project shows how easy it is to wrap a post and beam tiny home with rice hull bags in non-code areas. Bags of rice hulls turn what would ordinarily have been a poorly insulated home into a superinsulated home that’s quiet and comfortable.