I think it’s abundantly clear we have hit some sort of tipping point or turning point for earthbag building. The list I put together Some Incredible Facts about Earthbag Building summarizes many positive aspects of earthbag. And every day brings news of additional ways to further reduce costs and save labor. Earthbag building is already exceptionally low cost and simple, but people keep coming up with improvements. I’m repeating myself a bit, but this is very important. The post yesterday about Hiperadobe (or maybe it’s Hyperadobe in English) is an excellent example of this. I’ve yet to try out the Hiperadobe tubes, but it sure sounds promising to me. This would eliminate having to put barbed wire between courses on small, simple vertical wall structures, which no one particularly enjoys doing. Improved plaster bonding is another substantial plus. Use a standard gravel-filled earthbag foundation on rubble trench, and earthen plaster and floors, and you have truly sustainable dirt cheap housing that anyone can figure out and do on their own.
