Tim, one of our readers, left a comment about the materials in southern Mexico (60 miles east of Mexico City in the state of Tlaxcala, just outside the state capital) where he’s planning to build an earthbag home. It turns out there’s a wealth of natural building materials nearby that are dirt cheap. In addition … Read more
We’ve been discussing the Eternally Solar earthbag building system at length. Engineering tests show their walls exceed building code requirements even when filled with sand. Their bags are also used to form lintels and bond beams. As exciting and practical as this is, there’s a wide range of other options. Their earthbags can be filled … Read more
Some of the proposed housing solutions in the $300 House competition are utterly soulless and devoid of love. They look like boxes churned out by a factory with little or no thought to cooking, living, sleeping, privacy, windows or other basic necessities. At first I noted their use of energy intensive materials such as steel … Read more
Previous blog posts have explained how earthbag homes are similar to rammed earth (see Ancient Rammed Earth Structures) and compressed earth (see Impact Testing Megablocks with Black Powder Cannon). And in comparison to adobe, which is also quite durable, earthbags gain additional durability from: – Tamping (greater density, less air space, clay platelets bonded together) … Read more
Kelly Hart and Patti Stouter fielded some questions from Stanford University students. “I am a graduate student in the Construction Engineering & Management program at Stanford University. For one of my courses this quarter, two of my classmates and I are developing a non-profit social venture business plan. We have decided to explore earthbag construction … Read more
I’ve added a third entry in ‘The $300 House Open Design Challenge’. CEBs are popular and practical, and some of you may be thinking of using them for columns, next to wood stoves, interior walls or as a design element. They would make a great center column in a roundhouse. Geopolymer CEBs turn to actual … Read more