The photo shows the earthbag shelter design in our proposal to the UN. Earthbags are highly recommended since they’re tried and proven. However, in disaster areas bags and training may not be available, so it’s always good to have options. The emergency shelter idea explained here maximizes use of existing material and skills in Nepal in order to build shelter as quickly as possible.
low cost
Earthquake Resistant Earthbag Building Guidelines PDF
Earthen buildings are strong in compression, but need help against tension or bending stresses. The barbed wire and vertical rebar in earthbag add important tensile strength.
More than 50 earthbag buildings in Nepal have recently survived 0.5- >0.7g of earthquake motion. This same motion destroyed poorly reinforced and unreinforced masonry buildings around them, mud block and brick alike.
Earthbag Shelter for Street Children, Nepal
I just found this earthbag shelter for street children in Boudha, Nepal. That’s pretty much all I know about this project. Maybe one of our readers can fill us in on the details.
Summary of Earthquake Resistant Earthbag Building Methods
We’ve posted quite a few blog posts over the years about how to reinforce earthbag buildings. Due to the earthquake in Nepal, we’re getting lots of questions about reinforced earthbag methods for earthquake regions. The following list will save people lots of time searching our blog and websites. Watch for more news on this topic in the future.
$500 Building Code Regulation
Ron, one of our readers, posted this news at Counties with Few or No Codes.
UN Promoting Green Homes in Nepal
GREEN HOMES – PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE HOUSING IN NEPAL
“This three year (2013-1015) project funded by the European Union aims at promoting sustainable housing technologies and services to contribute towards mitigating climate change and reducing poverty through creation of green jobs and moving towards a green economy.