300 earthbag homes for ‘Yolanda’ survivors to rise in Coron, Palawan

From yesterday’s www.businessmirror.com written by Jonathan L. Mayuga:

This type of environment-friendly earthbag homes will soon rise in Barangay Lajala, Coron, Palawan for the survivors of supertyphoon Yolanda. (Jonathan L. Mayuga)
This type of environment-friendly earthbag home will soon rise in Barangay Lajala, Coron, Palawan for the survivors of supertyphoon Yolanda. (Jonathan L. Mayuga)

CORON, Palawan—Eco-friendly earthbag homes for Supertyphoon Yolanda survivors will soon rise in Barangay Lajala, one of the coastal barangays devastated by the super typhoon in this island municipality last year.

Mayor Carla “Fems” Reyes said the island municipality is planning to construct 300 earthbag homes for those who remain homeless after Yolanda triggered a storm surge that swept away thousands of houses along coastal towns in Central Philippines.

The earthbag homes, with a floor area of 24 square meter, will have one bedroom, one comfort room and a concrete floor, according to a plan approved by the local government of Coron.

Instead of ordinary hollow blocks, a mixture of cement and soil—one part cement and seven parts soil—was used to make bricks that would be used for the walls of the house. For the roofs, doors and windows, bamboo poles or kawayan and nipa will be used.

Read more

Earthbag/Adobe Stunner

Green home by Alberto Cardenas, Tepalcate Construction, Cuernevaca, Mexico. Must see to believe. I was a bit shocked to see this even after working with earthbags for years. This is close to a million dollar home. The video above shows the house under construction. Links below show each stage of construction, including the finished house.

Read more

Earthbag Building in Kenya

We are always pleased to hear from people around the world about their building projects. I recently received this email, along with several photos:

“Dear Kelly I have seen your inspiring works with earthbags and am happy to inform you that I am also into green building here in Kenya. I have done a demo house using earthbags and will be going for the next level of building as an eco-friendly training school using this method. We would want to include off grid power eventually, but that is for the future.  Regards, Barry Kungu”

Filling the earthbags
Filling the earthbags

Read more

Affordable Covered Pool Made with Earthbags

Affordable Covered Pool Made with Earthbags
Affordable Covered Pool Made with Earthbags

“This summer being scorched under the glaring Texas sun, my wife and I had an idea. We need a swimming pool. Our thoughts were grand, our visions long. Covered, big, deep, beautiful, were some of the adjectives that sprang to mind. It was going to be a thing to behold, our in-ground pool.

Read more

Laughing Heart: Building An Earthbag Home

Earthbag home at Laughing Heart homestead
Earthbag home at Laughing Heart homestead

“Hello, I’m Ember and I’d like to share my earthbag building experience. Last summer I moved onto a small family farm called Laughing Heart to learn about earthbag building, permaculture and community living.

Read more