Bit by bit, word of earthbag building is spreading. Even though no large industry or organization has thrown their might behind the effort, earthbag continues its grassroots growth. Occasionally we stop and ponder, in a focused way, what can be done to facilitate this growth. With that in mind, here’s a partial list of needs we would like to see.
Additional testing for shear, slippage, wind, seismic, bullet resistance
Additional engineering analysis based on test results
Design specifications for non-seismic areas
List of best practices
More input and participation by building professionals
Backing by the bag manufacturing industry (their testing data would help engineers)
More mainstream media exposure
More profiles of top notch projects (only a tiny fraction of earthbag houses are documented)
More books and videos
Do you have any further suggestions?
I have been reading this blog periodically now for some time and felt that this posting deserved my assistance. I may be able to offer some insight into one of the items mentioned above: “backing by the bag manufacturing industry…”
I work for Pacific Packaging, a distributor and custom printer of woven polypropylene bags. Although we do not make the bags ourselves, we have a working relationship with several woven polypropylene vendors in the US, China, Korea and Pakistan. We have been importing plain bags and selling them with either custom print or blank for decades. During the last few years, we have noticed an increase in business, due to earthbag building projects. Please visit our website for more information or call us about pricing, bag sizes or materials. I am sure we can help. We have been learning about earthbag building projects in an effort to bridge the gap between builders and bag manufacturers.
Is it possible to get a list of specifications for standard poly bags that are best suited for earthbag building? This could include specs such as weave, density, shear strength, etc. We’ll credit your company in the blog post for your initiative.
Even better — send specs for poly bags and tubes, and mesh bags and tubes. Use 18″ wide measured flat when empty.
If you could provide the information in the next week to 10 days, then it could go in my new earthbag book. Your company would be credited for providing the info.