Yesterday we got a comment by an earthbag builder who was harassed and given the ‘run-around’ by building code officials while building his earthbag home. Here’s part of my response to what Phil had to endure.
Owen: Sorry they gave you such a hard time. Maybe you should send them links to stories of how earthbag buildings were the some of the only buildings left standing in the worst hit earthquake areas of Nepal such as Sindhupalchok. Now earthbag building is code approved in Nepal and hundreds of new buildings have been completed. NGO’s in Nepal that build with earthbags have the enthusiastic support of Nepal’s engineers’ association! I know because I spoke to them. They even helped us get official earthbag code approval from the government building department. So my conclusion is many American engineers are uninformed. They may see it as a niche building method that’s not worth their time investigating, but that doesn’t mean it’s not safe.
Please support Good Earth Global and other partners doing similar good work. Unlike big, established ‘top heavy’ NGOs, virtually all donations go to actually helping people. They also accept volunteers and provide low cost training there.
Where you build is one of the biggest factors that will affect how difficult it is to get code approval for alternative building materials such as earthbags. It’s much more difficult to get code approval in big cities, especially in Florida where hurricanes are common and in CA where there’s earthquake risk.
Note the nearly perfectly straight, vertical earthbag walls. Great job. These workers are now highly trained and efficient. As you can see in the photo, they’re busy attaching plaster mesh that goes up and over the walls for added strength, and also building the formwork for the concrete bond beam.