Yet another way to build with CEBs. This looks like one of the most efficient.
Structural aspects
Wattle and Cob: An Earthen House Built by Hand
Here’s another super low cost, all natural housing method. Snakes of cob are coiled around a pole frame.
“Peak Moment 215: “I think it’s very very important to know you can provide things for yourself? build your own house? grow your own food? make your own medicine.” Walking his talk, Greg Crawford shows the magical wattle-and-cob house he built with hand tools using local materials: alder trees in the surrounding forest, and clay from what later became the house floor. Building his house was an “experiment in intuitive architecture… using common sense while “letting the building evolve, change and grow on its own.””
Another CEB Wall Method
“CEBs are one of the cheapest, simplest building methods available. They are an advancement on adobe blocks and are far more versatile, durable and strong.
Post Detail for CEB Walls
One way to speed construction of compressed earth block walls (CEBs) is to pour concrete posts after the CEB walls are built. This process may be desirable in mild climates where there’s low probability of rain or snow and you are eager to get the walls built. Pouring the posts in the walls saves on form material, and reduces cutting and fitting of blocks (less need for perfect alignment). Posts are inconspicuous (or invisible in some cases – see below) because they’re inset flush to the wall.
Mechanized Rapidobe
Abe from Vela Creations and I have been exchanging ideas about his new Rapidobe building system. The biggest strong point for rapidobe is its speed and ease of construction. You could speed the process along even more with a Bobcat or tractor to dump soil into the wall cavity, and then have several workers for tamping. Abe tamps the soil while standing inside the wall.
A Material and Structural Analysis of Earthbag Housing
Nikul Vadgama from the University of Bath has completed one of the most extensive reports so far on earthbag building. In order for earthbag to enter mainstream building practice, engineering tests and analysis like this are needed by engineers, architects and code officials.