“First Steps Himalaya constructed an earthbag Education and Training Centre just prior to the massive earthquake that hit Nepal on 25th April 2015. The building was constructed using proven earthbag construction methods utilizing polypropylene sacks, barbed wire, steel rebar and earth. The building stood up to the 7.9 magnitude earthquake as well as a 6.5 magnitude local earthquake that followed soon after.
Earthbag Building
Free Earthbag Training for NGOs
Due to the amazing success of earthbag buildings surviving the recent earthquake, I’m receiving requests to train the trainers who will help rebuild Nepal. I just started the Take it to Zero project and so it seems fitting to offer this training for free.
Pegasus Domes Withstand Nepal Earthquake
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
News Report about Earthbag School Surviving Quake
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.
A Small Underground Dome Experiment
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.
Houses in Nepal: Gone in the Twinkling of an Eye
Imagine a builder who spent their whole life building houses in their town for family, friends and other people they know.