Earthbag Domes Survive Hurricane Chapala

Earthbag domes before the hurricane
Earthbag domes before the hurricane

“Hi Owen, Our earthbag dome has not been finished, we ran out of budget. The Chapala cyclone hit the area with very severe storms and rains a few weeks ago, here are the walls before and after.”

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Survival Tactics: Dirt Cheap Bullet-Proof Earthbag Shelters


“Environmentalist’s best kept secret and the concrete industry’s worst nightmare… … the earthbag method means that you can build a small retreat to withstand bullets, floods, hurricanes, storms and fires much better than a conventional house.”

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Why We’re Building an Earthbag Stemwall

Gravel bag stemwall built by Ziggy, author of Year of Mud blog
Gravel bag stemwall built by Ziggy, author of Year of Mud blog

“The small off-grid home we’re helping friends build here in the Appalachian foothills is getting a bunch of work done to it recently. The biggest task of the moment is building the earthbag stemwall, which we need to finish before our upcoming Straw Bale Workshop in July. We opted for an earthbag stemwall due to the availability of appropriate materials, the relative ease of construction, and the unique siting of the house. All things considered, I think going the earthbag route has been a good choice.

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Transitional Earthbag Shelters in Syria

UNHCR is building transitional earthbag shelters in Syria
UNHCR is building transitional earthbag shelters in Syria

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched a test project for temporary shelters made from bags filled with earth in Syria. The architect, Anas Aljbain, is using ARCHICAD to develop the designs.

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Massive Earthbag Retaining Walls

Massive earthbag retaining walls like this are quite common
Massive earthbag retaining walls like this are quite common

I have to laugh when people keep asking me if earthbag building is strong. Earthbags (sand bags) have centuries of use by militaries worldwide, because they’re bomb, blast and bullet resistant. Millions of sand bags are used each year for flood control to stop raging rivers. As well, earthbag building is earthquake and hurricane resistant.

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IDV: Developing Permanent Shelter Solutions for Nepal

International Disaster Volunteers (IDV) is building permanent earthbag homes in Nepal
International Disaster Volunteers (IDV) is building permanent earthbag homes in Nepal

“The Nepal earthquakes destroyed almost 605,000 homes, and damaged 288,856 more. While there is an urgent, ongoing need to provide immediate shelter in Nepal this solution is still a temporary one.

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