Earthbag building (sometimes called sandbag building) started about one hundred years ago providing safe, bulletproof and bomb resistant shelters for the military. They proved to be fast, simple to construct and durable. The same qualities that make earthbags useful for military and flood control purposes apply to building houses. Now people all over the world … Read more
Architects, engineers and designers were quick to help create safer, more sustainable designs after the December 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia. One effort at the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building led to an earthbag design, another effort developed a bamboo design with earthbag (sandbag) footings. Architects Diego Lastres and Daniella Corvetto were key to … Read more
The Fleming College Sustainable Building Design & Construction Progam project in 2008 was the Madoc Performing Arts Centre. Students of this annual summer program constructed a sustainable performing arts center in Madoc, Ontario, Canada. Since 2005, students of this program have been building sustainable public buildings for host communities. The buildings mix low impact, low … Read more
What is the best way to build a low-cost home that doesn’t harm the planet? Most materials such as concrete and steel are highly processed and transported long distances, making them unaffordable to millions who are in need of housing. These high-tech materials also cause a great deal of harm to the environment. The answer … Read more
Here’s another dirt cheap earthbag house – this one is in Mexico. I just found a new video about the house, and the owner’s daughter who helped build the house said it cost about $2,000! We need more stories like this. At some point people will stop paying ridiculously high prices and switch over to … Read more
Shine On Sierra Leone, a human service foundation that provides education, mentoring and nutritional support to schools in Sierra Leone constructed a school building using earthbags. The building was made without power tools, but instead hand made tools. The idea was to use materials that are easily accessible to locals. At first, the workers laughed … Read more