This is the third installment of my low cost desert shelters that have been designed with economic refugees in mind. These desert shelters were inspired by Phillip Garlington’s website at Rancho Costa Nada. http://www.ranchocostanada.itgo.com/ His book Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead is available through Amazon and Smashwords.
This is the first of several installments on ultra low cost desert shelters. The idea came from reading Phillip Garlington’s website at Rancho Costa Nada (“the cost nothing ranch”), where he tells his story of chucking a regular 9-5 job and creating a new life in the desert. Economic woes are driving millions of people out of the economy, many of whom become economic refugees with no place else to go except the cheapest land available – the desert. As a result, desert communities are springing up throughout the southwest US deserts.
Patti Stouter’s New Earthbag Building Slide Series
“A how-to slide show series. A picture is worth a thousand words. And many natural builders have limited access to the internet. These slide shows will speed information transfer into many languages because they are mostly visual and come in small and large formats. Slide sets are also available in French.”
“Testing a CEB (compressed earth block) wall for the ability to withstand small arms fire with an AK-47, 223 and a 45-70 Gov” The video is rather shaky, but it does help validate what we’ve been saying here for the last few years – that compressed earth, especially when combined with gravel, has very good … Read more
Dr. Johnny Anderton is the $20,000 first place winner in the Common Pitch Design Indaba competition for social impact projects. Dr. Anderton said he will put the money toward gaining building code approval! Congratulations! “EarthBagBuild is a construction system combining ancient building techniques with 21st century technology: a locally developed and patented high strength polypropylene … Read more
Michael Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture has lots of great ideas. Even though he uses tires (which take more time and effort) instead of earthbags, his books and videos are highly recommended. This particular video has excellent 3D modeling showing how the structure is built. Note the insulation around the perimeter of the home to create … Read more