Step-by-Step Earthbag Building This Instructable explains each main step of construction for building vertical earthbag walls. Videos on my Earthbag Natural Building YouTube channel demonstrate the process. For those who don’t know, earthbag building uses polypropylene rice bags or feed bags filled with soil or insulation that are stacked like masonry and tamped flat. Barbed wire between courses keeps bags from slipping and adds tensile strength. The final plastered walls look just like adobe structures. Thousands of people are now building with bags to create their dream homes, home offices, shops, resorts, rootcellars, storm cellars and survival shelters. I got involved with earthbag building when the Indian Ocean tsunami hit Southeast Asia in December, 2004. Our websites at EarthbagBuilding.com and Earthbag Building Blog explain just about everything you need to know for free.
Eco-Dome: Moon Cocoon - Cal-Earth Building Designs The Eco-Dome is a small home design of approximately 400 square feet (40 sq. meters) interior space. It consists of a large central dome, surrounded by four smaller niches and a wind-scoop, in a clover leaf pattern. Learning and building an Eco-Dome is the next stage after building a small emergency shelter and provides hands-on learning experience in the essential aspects of Superadobe construction. It's small size of approximately 400 square feet (interior space), makes it a manageable structure for the first time owner builder. The finished "very small house" is self-contained and can become a small guest house, studio apartment, or be the first step in a clustered design for community use in an Eco-Village of vaults and domes. Built from local earth-filled Superadobe coils (earth stabilized with cement or lime).Tree free.Maximum use of space through alternative options. Note: The Eco-Dome plan is a part of the Cal-Earth educational and research program.
Earthbag Construction EarthBag Homes - you're standing on the building materials... earthbag home Long sandbags are filled on-site and arranged in layers or as compressed coils. Stabilizers such as cement, lime, or sodium carbonate may be added to an ideal mix of 70% sand, 30% clay. Straw may also be added. The earthbags are then plastered over with adobe. Arquitectura en Equilibrio (Architecture in Balance) flickr.com earthbag home Plastic bags recycled into plastic bags -- if plastic does not break down for a thousand years, this building is sure to last several lifetimes. earthbag construction Foundations differ as per site. earthbag construction The time consuming part, filling the bags. earthbag construction Testing the strength of an arch. earthbag home Project Seres, Guatemala. projectseres.org, flickr.com earthbag home CalEarth -- Emergency Shelter Village, Hesperia, California. earthbag home Cal Earth -- Emergency Shelters. earthbag home CalEarth let the layers show. Resources: Lessons: More Pictures:
Triple Dome Survival Shelter « Earthbag House Plans April 12, 2011 by Owen Geiger Triple Dome Survival Shelter (click to enlarge) Specifications: Three 16′ interior diameter domes with 603 sq. ft. interior, 3 sleeping lofts with 312 sq. ft., total 915 sq. ft. interior, one bedroom, one bath, Footprint: 38′ x 38′ Description: This Triple Dome Survival Shelter provides much more space than my first earthbag survival shelter. Like this: Like Loading... An Earthbag Round House For Less Than $5,000 Looking for a very stable design which does not only come cheap from the start but also makes you save money in the long run. Due to its shape and materials used, the earthbag house has less area than your normal home, so it’s cheaper to keep it supplied with energy. Don’t be scared if you never built circular structures before, because the example shown here used a technique called the compass arm which you can easily learn. Recycled or salvaged materials were used wherever it was possible, like in the door or on the floor. The tutorial has photos showcasing almost each step of the building process so if you decide to replicate the project, use it to help and guide you along the way. Starting on the rubble trench foundation. Covering over our sediment fabric with pea gravel. Two rows of stem wall – 80 lb sack concrete. 2 strands of barbed wire go between every row. Firewood used to hold the barbed wire in place. Door frame up. A strip anchor to hold the door in place.
Earth Domes | Earthflow Playscapes | SuperAdobe | Playground Equipment | Earth Bag Buildings | Rammed Earth | Playscapes - Small Earth Of Earth and Domes: Hesperia's Cal-Earth Sustainable Architecture | San Bernardino Weekly Vote WinnerArtbound's editorial team has reviewed and rated the most compelling weekly articles. After putting two articles up for a vote, the audience chose this article to be made into a short-format documentary. The California Institute of Earth Architecture or Cal-Earth appears like some alien subdivision dropped out from space into one of those ubiquitous cookie-cutter suburban starter home communities in the urbanized southwestern Mojave Desert. To reach the Cal-Earth training/test site in Hesperia, one must first past through several streets of nearly identical homes with virtually the same SUV parked in front. When I looked for it, I felt lost amid these cookie cutter homes, but then suddenly, the Cal-Earth complex emerged with its array of exotic beehive-like adobe domes behind a chain-link fence. Backside of the Earth One Vaulted Home Design. | Photo: Kim Stringfellow. Construction of the Karabti San Eco-Dome Construction in Djibouti. Photo: Kim Stringfellow.
Dream Green Homes: Earthbag Plans An Earthbag Round House For Less Than $5,000 Looking for a very stable design which does not only come cheap from the start but also makes you save money in the long run. Due to its shape and materials used, the earthbag house has less area than your normal home, so it’s cheaper to keep it supplied with energy. Don’t be scared if you never built circular structures before, because the example shown here used a technique called the compass arm which you can easily learn. Recycled or salvaged materials were used wherever it was possible, like in the door or on the floor. The tutorial has photos showcasing almost each step of the building process so if you decide to replicate the project, use it to help and guide you along the way. At the end you will have the comfort of 450 ft² with less than $5,000 spent overall. Starting on the rubble trench foundation. Covering over our sediment fabric with pea gravel. Two rows of stem wall – 80 lb sack concrete. 2 strands of barbed wire go between every row. Door frame up.
One Natural Builder's Next Big Adventure Called: The Fossil Fuel-Free House Morgan Caraway is a natural builder, homesteader, intentional community co-founder and author. In 2009 his wife, Mary Jane, and he moved on to a piece of undeveloped land in the Blue Ridge Mountains and began a homesteading adventure. Theye built a yurt, earthbag house and a cordwood bath house. Please help them in this IndieGoGo campaign. Our first earthbag house. In our 7 years of living off-grid, we've learned a lot and we will put all of this knowledge and more into our most ambitious project yet - a fossil fuel-free house that uses passive solar design, thermal mass and hydronics (heated floors) to stay comfortable year-round without burning ANY fossil-fuels. Over a lifetime, conventionally built modern houses use an extreme amount of energy to heat and cool them. This will be a do-it-yourself, owner-built home and we plan to share what we've learned with other builders and permaculture enthusiasts.
Insulated Earthbag Foundations for Yurts Note: If you’re new to earthbag building, first read the introductory Step-by-Step Earthbag Building and How to Build an Earthbag Roundhouse . This Instructable includes complete step-by-step instructions on how to make an insulated earthbag foundation. You can use the same process to make insulated foundations for any type of structure – straw bale, earthbag, cordwood, etc. Yurts or gers are very efficient and practical in harsh, cold climates, as evidenced by centuries of use in Mongolia. Many people build their yurts on a raised wooden platform to reduce moisture problems. In addition to the many other uses for earthbags (retaining walls, domes, rootcellars, houses, etc.), you can build insulated foundations by filling the bags with insulation such as scoria. For those who live in Canada or similar climates, you might want to follow the Earth-Sheltered Solar Canadian blog , who’s planning to build an insulated earthbag foundation that’s suitable for extremely cold climates.
How to Build Dirt Cheap Houses The following list summarizes some of the potential savings from using natural building materials and alternative construction methods. If you’re wondering why they’re not more widely used, it’s because contractors, banks, realtors and others in the housing industry make more profit from the current system. It’s up to you to get informed and switch to a sustainable lifestyle. 1. Foundation: Insulated frost-protected foundations do not have to be as deep as standard foundations and therefore use fewer materials, require less excavation and backfill, less form work and less labor. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Earthbag House Plans - Tiny House Design Owen Geiger over at Earthbag House Plans has been busy. He has posted the preliminary designs for about 77 plans for earthbag homes available on his newest website. An earthbag home is essentially a home made from the dirt under your feet. It’s scooped up and placed in bags like old grain bags or sandbags. It’s probably the fastest and easiest way to build walls and the best part is that it’s as cheap as dirt. Photo credit to the people at earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com and earthbagplans.wordpress.com.
The Shantikuthi Earthbag Spiral House [video] Alternative homes are popping all over the world. The next example comes from Nagano, Japan. The earthbag house may seem like a building coming from fantasy novels, but it is a real place you can live in. The builder, Michi-kun, is an experienced carpenter and permaculturist. He got together 20 volunteers and began work on the inspiring home you can see in the pictures. The walls raised with bags of earth sit on a 60 cm-deep rubble trench foundation.