About two months ago a friend sent me a link to an unusual website by Klaus Dona about ancient stone objects. No one has ever been able to explain how these tools or objects were carved. Basanite stone (lydite) is impossibly hard to carve with the copper or iron tools available at the time, and … Read more
Major Breaking News. Tim, one of our readers, sent me some information the other day that explained how Bill McNulty has patented the process of making cast stone using natron salt (sodium carbonate) mixed with powdered granite, limestone, basalt, schist or sandstone mixed with water. This is a slightly different method than proposed by Professor … Read more
This just in from Kelly Hart: “Dr.Jenny Pickerill recently traveled around the world on a Winston Churchill Trust Travelling Fellowship on a quest for information and insights on how folks in England (where she teaches at the University of Leicester) might better address needs for sustainable housing. One of her stops was in the rural … Read more
Building with earth requires low energy input in processing and handling soil – only about 1% of the energy required to manufacture and process the same volume of cement concrete. This aspect was investigated by the Desert Architecture Unit which has discovered that the energy needed to manufacture and process one cubic metre of soil … Read more
Here’s a response I made to a reader over on the Mother Earth News Blog who said “This type of building for people is not going to readily take off.” Owen: It’s all a matter of perspective, because over 1/3 (some estimate ½) of the houses in the world fall into this category! This includes … Read more
We know of earthbag structures in the following US states: AR, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, ID, KY, MD, MI, MN, MO, NM, NV, NY, OH, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA We know of earthbag structures in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican … Read more