The earthbag clinic and school buildings in Leogane have unfortunately experienced cost overruns. Obviously this is a very important topic, and doubly so when building in developing countries where budgets are very tight. One problem has been the unusually high cost of materials, which can be much higher than in the US. The main expense … Read more
I have been doing some further research into sources and qualities of mesh tubing that would be suitable for hyperadobe style earthbag construction. I feel that this innovation has so much merit that it should be pursued on several fronts, from further experimentation and documentation to eventual testing , engineering studies and code approval. Of … Read more
Construction has begun on a new clinic with environmentally friendly low cost earthbag construction at rural Petite-Riviere, Leogane, Haiti. The new clinic will have four exam rooms (including a dental suite), a treatment/surgical room, nurses station, waiting room, storage and bathroom. Completion will hopefully be in early 2011. The current makeshift clinic (seen as the metal … Read more
Pisco Sin Fronteras in Pisco, Peru has been working with earthbags for some time and their last project, just completed, is a community center. They have detailed how they went about building this at their website and we have assembled this information on a project page about it at www.earthbagbuilding.com. You can also see a … Read more
We have a guest post today by Owen Ingley of Plenitud Iniciativas, who has been experimenting with fibers in plaster. “Greetings from Puerto Rico. I just wanted to give you a quick update on something that we’ve tried recently. The last emails we sent to each other I was asking you about fibers for plasters … Read more
I have been consulting with Mike Parker who started www.childrenofthedump.org in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico about how to build inexpensive, ecological housing for poor families who subsist off recycling materials from the city dump. They typically live in shacks and shanties that are often not adequate for their needs, nor do they provide proper housing for … Read more