An Australian couple have been chronicling the development of their homestead, which includes building a strawbale house and an innovative approach to creating raised garden beds. They have resorted to sewing up strips of old sheets to make long bags, which they then fill with stabilized soil to create the beds. Once cured, the beds … Read more
A growing number of people are disillusioned with conventional housing made of 2x4s and sheetrock (the way most homes in North America are built). These homes are filled with materials such as particleboard, plywood, plastic, linoleum, and synthetic carpet and paint that contain known carcinogens and allergens. These man-made materials offgas toxic chemicals such as … Read more
The UN estimates 1.2 billion people lack adequate shelter and over one hundred million are homeless. Why is this happening when the solution is readily apparent and well proven? The answer lies in using locally available, natural building materials to construct affordable housing. Highly processed modern materials are not affordable for the masses and carry … Read more
There are dozens of building methods and design techniques that enable virtually anyone to build their dream home at rock-bottom prices. The solution lies in natural building – using locally available, low-impact materials such as earth, stone, straw and small diameter wood, in conjunction with timeless vernacular building methods. Our grandparents didn’t need a quarter … Read more
My earlier post about Earthbag Building in Cold Climates on January 17, 2009 piqued some interest. Since energy performance on most buildings can be improved with insulation, including those made of earth — adobe, earthbag, etc. — I decided to pursue this idea further. So here’s another method for insulating earthbag buildings using tube sandbags, … Read more
Owen Geiger built an earthbag dome with a green roof for Mother Earth News magazine that is scheduled for the August/September 2009 issue. It is a multi-purpose storm/rootcellar and storage shed. www.motherearthnews.com A picture of the dome was submitted in a green roof competition at Huffington Post. It is moving up the charts and is … Read more