One of our readers requested information on how to build on sloped terrain. They want to minimize excavation work. The drawing above shows how to build an earthbag foundation in ‘steps’. The basic process involves: 1. determine the slope of the land: change in elevation (‘rise’) over horizontal distance (run), expressed as a fraction (example: … Read more
From time to time we answer reader’s questions. Here, numerous emails have been combined and edited for brevity. Rex: My goal is to learn to build houses with local materials in order to help people in my area build sustainable debt free homes. I’m in love with your Earthbag Lodge plan as I had previously … Read more
The Arts Centre Hastings was designed by Chris Magwood and Ingrid Cryns, and built by the students of the 2007 Sustainable Building and Design program at Fleming College, under the direction of Chris Magwood and Ali Lam. Located in the Madoc Skate Park in downtown Madoc, Ontario, the project was funded by the Municipality of … Read more
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDT16crY6sc In this video, David Reed of Texas Natural Builders kindly shows us his work with developing the right plaster mix for the pallet house near Pine Ridge. This is his first full-house pallet build and his first in a severe hot-and-cold-weather climate like ours. Critics of natural building often say that natural building is … Read more
Pallet building is a hot topic and so the next few blog posts will explore various aspects of building with pallets — from entire houses, to interior pallet walls, to pallet wall cladding. Over 4 billion pallets are currently in use, so this is an abundant, easily obtained and usually free resource. Excerpts below about … Read more
I posted an idea for Insulated Earthbag Foundations for Yurts at Instructables.com. One reader who left a comment liked the idea, but needed a simpler design so he wouldn’t have to get a building permit. Here’s an idea for a very simple design that might get around building codes. Stack one course of earthbags in … Read more