We have been working hard the last days. Earthbag building is anything far from easy. But it is an incredible learning experience. Our teacher told us yesterday: “Problems make you learn! When something is easy, you just go to bed very satisfied, no problem. But when the problems occur you really need to find a solution. So you start searching, go to the internet, ask experts. After that you know a lot more, which you would not know, if the problem did not occur. Problems make you more knowledgeable.”
green building
Open Air Homes
Open air designs with rooms that open to the outdoors are practical in certain mild and tropical climates. Unconstrained by interior walls, cooling breezes can freely flow throughout the home. In addition to improved ventilation, open house plans look and feel larger than homes divided up with interior walls. If one large space isn’t appealing, a good compromise might be primarily open space with some privacy walls for the sleeping and bath areas. Also, plan for ways to protect the home from wind, blowing rain and insects. Roll down shutters are one popular solution. They can be lowered as security doors at night and when you’re away from home, and they come in a variety of designs that range from strictly utilitarian (security purposes) to decorative grillwork for custom homes.
Florida Dome Home Workshop
Mike Creedy just sent me word of his upcoming free earthbag workshop. You might remember the recent blog post about the permitted earthbag dome he’s building in Florida. I’ve pasted a few factoids from his Florida Dome Home Blog.
“We will be hosting a free workshop on site starting Saturday 14 July.
1459 181 road
Live Oak, Fl 32060
Tel: Will be switched on just for you… 386 466 2010
Proctor Soil Compaction Test
“The Standard Proctor Test is a laboratory test used to determine the optimum water for a given compaction energy, for a given soil. The graph illustrates the results obtained from a Standard Proctor test.
The Proctor compaction test is a laboratory method of experimentally determining the optimal moisture content at which a given soil type will become most dense and achieve its maximum dry density. (Compaction is the process by which the bulk density of an aggregate of matter is increased by driving out air.) The term Proctor is in honor of R. R. Proctor, who in 1933 showed that the dry density of a soil for a given compactive effort depends on the amount of water the soil contains during soil compaction.
Desert Cisterns
An adequate freshwater supply is a basic necessity. Obtaining water can be especially challenging in deserts. The following photos illustrate a few simple methods for capturing and storing water in arid regions.