“It was almost a year ago that a massive earthquake rocked Nepal. Nearly 8,000 people died and hundreds of villages were destroyed. Many buildings crumbled to the ground.
But out of those dark moments, a group of UNM students are shining through. Their goal: to help rebuild. A group of UNM engineering students have rebuilding on their minds after their visit to Nepal before the earthquake’s destruction.
In a previous blog post about Earthbag Tornado Shelters I suggested building them for profit. Four years later the same advice is still valid. The marketing process should be even easier now since earthbag buildings are much more common. One key selling point is the cost. Most commercially available tornado shelters cost at least several thousand dollars. The materials cost for earthbag tornado shelters is around $300. That means almost pure profit for the builder.
“Kristie Wolfe spent $5000 to build herself a tiny home on wheels in her hometown of Pocatello, Idaho. It started off as a yearlong experiment in simple living, but she liked it so much she decided to keep living small, not only in Idaho, but she began looking for land to build a tiny vacation home.
“Bottom Leaf will be hosting our first official earthbag building workshop on May 6 – 8th at our community property one hour north of Asheville, NC. Participants can arrive Friday afternoon, if they wish to camp, or on Saturday by 9am. There will be sites available for primitive camping and two meals will be served daily. This class will teach many of the basics of earthbag building. The hours of the workshop will be from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday with an hour-long break for lunch each day. Enrollment is limited to 10 people. There is an early rate of $250 ($50 off) that will be available until April 15th. The regular price of the class is $300 per person. If you’re unable to afford the fee but would like to attend, alternative arrangements can be discussed.
“This is the most affordable greenhouse you could ever build — total cost even with everything store bought is about $225 for a 12X40 greenhouse.” (That’s only $.47/sq. ft.)
Watch all five parts to see the entire construction process of building a nice little house with pallets. Search our blog for complete information on building houses and furniture with pallets.