Building an Earthbag Dome

Originally published by Owner Builder Magazine, this excellent article by Rob Wainwright of Permaforest Trust comes complete with many useful building details, as well as quite a few beautiful photos.  Rob explains how they built their four meter dome step-by-step clearly enough that others could build one similar. This project is now featured on our … Read more

Earthbag Building in the Humid Tropics

Earthbag Building in the Humid Tropics: Simple Instructions by Patti Stouter is a 27-page, step-by-step PDF guide to building with earthbags in these demanding climates. It is well thought out, quite informative, and useful as a basic introduction to the concept of building with earthbags. She begins with a general introduction, and then moves on … Read more

Testing Proves Earthbags to be Very Strong

In a thesis written by Bryce Daigle, titled “Earthbag Housing: Structural Behavior and Applicability in Developing Countries,” It was determined that the compressive strength of unplastered earthbag housing specimens meets or exceeds the vertical compressive strength of conventional stud-frame and alternative construction techniques such as straw bale housing technology, using a variety of fill materials, … Read more

A New Article and Booklet about How to Build with Earthbags

It is very gratifying to  witness how our website is helping to spread the word about the viability of earthbags  as a significant construction method worldwide. In just one day I was alerted to the publishing of two new media available via the internet: one is a 6-page article, titled How Earthbag Homes Work, published … Read more

Building with Unbonded Pumice

Owen Geiger and I have just found that a book published in 1990 in Germany, Building with Pumice, written by Klaus Grasser and Gernot Minke, describes experiments done in the 1970’s at the Research Laboratory for Experimental Building at Kassel Polytechnic College in Germany that have considerable bearing on the history of earthbag building. Most … Read more