There’s growing interest in living roofs or green roofs. The difficulty is deciding on the waterproof membrane. Rubber pond liner (EPDM) is the most waterproof and durable material, and the most common choice due to proven performance, but it’s also very expensive and made from nasty petro chemicals. I think a number of less toxic, … Read more
We’ve been explaining how you can build a sustainable earthbag home for around $10/square foot. To build in this price range requires extra time and effort, but it is possible. Unfortunately, if you look on the Internet, you’ll find people making outrageous claims about various building systems and how you can build for much less … Read more
Our earthbag projects have confirmed what I’ve known for a long time – that building at $10/sq.ft. (materials only) is possible. Other aspects of earthbag building — strength, durability, sustainability, etc. — are all important. But perhaps the most important point is affordability, because building at $10/sq. ft. makes housing affordable to virtually everyone on … Read more
Our roundhouse is nearly finished and so I wanted to share some results. The main impression is one of incredible fortresslike strength — massive walls with no sway. Our roundhouse and dome are probably the two strongest buildings I’ve ever worked on. Our earthbag dome, for instance, never budged as about 15 truckloads of soil … Read more
People keep asking for an update on our roundhouse, so here are some recent pics. Things are coming along nicely, although there are still numerous loose ends to finish: light fixtures, interior plaster touch up, cleaning tile (ugh) and landscaping. We’re very happy with the outcome and, of course, highly recommend this building method to … Read more
Perhaps workshop fees and travel expenses are not affordable, or maybe you’re busy doing other things and can’t make it to an earthbag workshop. That’s okay because we provide almost everything you need for free on our websites. You could get started without a workshop by following my step-by-step videos, www.youtube.com/user/naturalhouses, reading our websites and … Read more