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) www.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. Of course covered with adobe or plaster, so that the plastic does not offgas or degrade. Arquitectura en Equilibrio, Colombia. www.flickr.com




earthbag construction
Foundations differ as per site. Here, in a rainy locale, rocks were placed under the earthbags for drainage. Note the barbed wire which keeps the bags from slipping and creates an earthquake resistent structure. Arquitectura en Equilibrio, Colombia. www.flickr.com




earthbag construction
The time consuming part, filling the bags. The bags are filled in place on the wall. The CalEarth site says that three reasonably-fit persons can lay 100 linear ft of bag per day. Arquitectura en Equilibrio, Colombia. www.flickr.com





earthbag construction
Testing the strength of an arch. Arquitectura en Equilibrio, Colombia. www.flickr.com





earthbag home
Project Seres, Guatemala.  projectseres.org  www.flickr.com





earthbag home
CalEarth -- Emergency Shelter Village, Hesperia, California.
Iranian born architect, Nader Khalili developed the long-bag Superadobe prototype in California. In 1991 he founded the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture (Cal-Earth), a non-profit research and educational organization. Photo by James www.flickr.com




earthbag home
Cal Earth -- Emergency Shelters. This long bag/barbed wire concept was originally presented by Nader Khalili to NASA for proposed building habitats on the Moon and Mars. Photo by Ashley Muse www.flickr.com





earthbag home
CalEarth let the layers show. Photo by James www.flickr.com





CalEarth -- this might not be totally earthbag, but like the fish face. Photo by James www.flickr.com

earthbag home
The aerodynamic forms resist hurricanes and the structures pass California’s earthquake codes. They are flood and fire resistant as well. A double eco-dome can be built (bagged) in 10 weeks. Photo by James www.flickr.com





earthbag home
CalEarth photo by Mike Smith www.flickr.com





earthbag home
Classical Arches, domes and vaults updated. The combination fireplace and wind-scoop faces prevailing winds. Photo by James flickr.com





earthbag home
CalEarth -- inside of the vaulted house. calearth.org





earthbag home
CalEarth inside of the vaulted house. calearth.org





earthbag home
Cal-Earth -- exterior mud ornament. Photo by Ken McCown www.flickr.com






CalEarth Vault under construction. Photo by Ashley Muse www.flickr.com






Sandbag construction in the Philippines? Long sandbags add stability, but using barbed wire between layers of shorter sandbags, is also fine. It takes much longer to fill the long bags than the short ones. Photo by SCDLR8899 www.flickr.com





earthbag home
Ninos y Jovenes boarding school in San Juan Cosala', Mexico. Pic taken by earthbag expert Kelly Hart see more photos of project here: www.flickr.com





earthbag home
This is the first EarthBag structure to receive proper building permits in New York State. A project of Sister Marsha Allen of Rochester, she hopes the students who helped build the structure will join her in Haiti, where she hopes to build many more. www.rochestercitynewspaper.com




earthbag home
Gainesville, Florida. Photo by Justin Martin www.flickr.com




earthbag home
Gainesville, Florida. Photo by Justin Martin www.flickr.com




earthbag home
Gainesville, Florida. www.flickr.com





Earthbag Home under construction in Argentina. Lots more images here: www.superadobeserrano.blogspot.com




earthbag construction
Tamping is a necesary step. Initially a trench is dug and then filled with gravel, cement or a sunken layer of bags. Makes nice benches as well. www.ecocentro.org




earthbag construction
Everyone lends a hand. Take earth building lessons in Brazil with www.ecocentro.org
Some use bags as a temporary holder of adobe. The bags could rot away and the building would still be as sturdy. For this type of build, the bags need to be filled with a percentage of hardening material (such as adding 5%-10% hydrated lime or cement to dry soil, mixing well and then moistening lightly before filling and tamping bags) or pure adobe.





Inside an EarthBag ready for plaster. The other way to make an earthbag. A mix of native soil; clay/aggregate/sand, and/or insulating material such as lava stone, scoria, pumice, perlite or vermiculite inside polypropylene bags (which have a half life of 500 years). The plastic needs to be protected from the degradation of the sun's rays with a plaster. structure1.com/Earthbag.pdf




earthbag home
CalEarth photo by CuteMatrix www.flickr.com



If you do not like the idea of plastic bags - then Kelly Hart and Dr. Owen Geiger of Earthbag Building suggest natural porous bags (hemp, jute, flax or linen) filled with dirt, stone powder and sodium carbonate or lime (or numerous other cement capable wastes). After you lay a course of bags, sprinkle the layer with water, and after drying you will have a cement layer. Read more here: earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com





Earthbag Home Plans lots more here: earthbagplans.wordpress.com





Earthbag Home Plans earthbagplans.wordpress.com
 


Resources:

Great 'how to' resource here: www.simpleearthstructures.com

Books, Supplies, Links, Lots of Info:  earthbagbuilding.com

Cal-Earth focuses on researching, developing and teaching the technologies of Superadobe. The prototypes have not only received California building permits but have also met the requirements of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for emergency housing. calearth.org

Buy long bags here: calearth.org/shop

See structural notes at bottom of pdf: structure1.com/Earthbag.pdf

Simple Earth Buildings for the Humid Tropics by Patti Stouter: earthbagbuilding.com/pdf

Rubble-Bag Houses - How to: motherearthnews.com

How to make papercrete: www.greenhomebuilding.com

EcoFrame & EcoBags, Israel: www.ecobeamhomes.com

Lessons:

California and Worldwide: calearth.org

San Miquel de Allende, Mexico: karacadirearthbuilding.com

Brazil:  www.ecocentro.org

Argentina: superadobeserrano.blogspot.com lots of building pics

Northwest US:  earthenhand.com

Upstate NY: simpleearthstructures.com


More Pictures:

Lots here: structure1.com/Earthbag.pdf

Interesting bathroom by master builder Gernot Minke www.asl.uni-kassel.de

School in Mexico:  www.escueladeenergiasolar.org

For Japanese readers: whitehole.tistory.com

Nice step by step images from Panama: www.landtrees.net

 

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Coty
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #37 on : Tue February 21, 2012, 09:00:46

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Boo on Jomar. I guess there always has to be a downer on a comment thread. Most of these countries don't have the materials for the "age proven alternatives". They are labor intensive because that's one thing they do have and not to mention that it's a community building these together and that is just as important.

Maxi Malone
Posts: 37

earthbags
Reply #36 on : Tue February 21, 2012, 07:07:02

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How ingenious, can't believe there are Earthbag homes here in Florida, USA, where I live.

Blessings - Maxi

Jomar
Posts: 37

Sandbag Construction
Reply #35 on : Sun February 19, 2012, 17:48:07

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Seems extremely wasteful and too labour intensive, given the age proven alternatives.

Anonymous
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #34 on : Thu February 09, 2012, 12:27:43

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these are amazing, i would totally be on board to live in a neighborhood like this! really good eco friendly idea.

Paul Patane
Posts: 37

Energy Efficient Buildings
Reply #33 on : Wed February 01, 2012, 12:04:17

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I work for a company that does Energy Performance Certification in the UK and have to say I am very impressed by these structures. If we could just find somewhere for the rain to go then I think these would take off in a big way in England. Trouble is, we'd all be out of a job! If you want to know more about <a href="http://www.justepc.co.uk/landlord-epcs.html">Landlord EPCs click here</a>. "

Aryacalanatha
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #32 on : Wed January 18, 2012, 19:48:21

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Tattooine houses biotch!

Monique Harmon
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #31 on : Wed January 18, 2012, 17:55:04

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This is truely amazingg and beautiful!

Shapewear
Posts: 37

Bad weather
Reply #30 on : Tue December 13, 2011, 10:09:36

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How do these houses do on rains and heavy weather conditions?

location voiture agadir
Posts: 37

http://exotikcar.com
Reply #29 on : Sat December 03, 2011, 12:27:52

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Really awesome! i like the idea and the building material earth friendly.
thanks for this alternative

Greg
Posts: 37

http://www.raief.com
Reply #28 on : Fri November 11, 2011, 21:34:56

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Exciting and innovative. This is really great information and hopefully will circulate beyond this exposure to many people around the globe.
The only issues that I see would be with power. I know that many places would not require permits but in many countries the electrical and the water supplying would present a problem to the ordinances.
If the complete package were to include self reliance on power from solar and wind then this could really take off like a storm and never see the dust gathering from complacency.
Great article.

Debby Bruck
Posts: 37

Congratulations on great designs, innovation and earth friendly projects
Reply #27 on : Tue November 08, 2011, 21:10:14

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Such a fine presentation of environmentally sound construction and earth friendly materials to reduce waste, recycle and reuse. How do we get builders to use this type of construction in neighborhoods? It most likely would not fit in established areas, but would take off in new developments. Blessings, Debby

galvinaven
Posts: 37

galvinaven.wordpress.com
Reply #26 on : Wed November 02, 2011, 11:25:11

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OMG! Seriously awesome!

Melissa Waddingham
Posts: 37

self build
Reply #25 on : Mon October 31, 2011, 13:24:01

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Amazing constructions and so simple and great ingenuity.

Scarlet
Posts: 37

http://familyfocusblog.com
Reply #24 on : Sun October 30, 2011, 09:21:19

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How cool! Some of the photos look like Luke Skywalkers home! Thanks for sharing great photos of something I have never seen before!

Recycle Gal
Posts: 37

Very interesting!
Reply #23 on : Tue October 25, 2011, 11:26:37

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Such a cool concept, I absolutely love the look of these and the general idea. My only concern is how they would work in different climates.. A pretty inventive idea, and so eco-friendly!

Kim Claseman
Posts: 37

encourage more study of process.
Reply #22 on : Thu October 20, 2011, 18:42:17

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We have wasted so many domiciles to quakes, hurricanes, Tsunami, due to failure of the materials and planning of the buildings. Using the earth itself to build residences, and probably animals, and more.

Creating all of these will lead to creating newer means of heating, cooling, power sources, storage.

chip adams
Posts: 37

permits
Reply #21 on : Thu October 20, 2011, 02:37:20

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can they be made to code?

chip adams
Posts: 37

getting bags
Reply #20 on : Thu October 20, 2011, 02:35:15

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I would like to try to build one but I would have to get bags and use slate as outside because I have a lot of it.I am disabled so I have plenty of time but not much strength.thanks for the inspiration.

Anonymous
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #19 on : Wed October 19, 2011, 20:19:02

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this is pretty nice building material. Ancient tech with the modern touch, I'm about to tear my house down and build a dirt house.

Paranoiasnfm
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #18 on : Wed October 12, 2011, 04:12:00

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Amazing!

Andy Norman
Posts: 37

Inspirational
Reply #17 on : Fri October 07, 2011, 02:25:54

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I love these alternative, eco friendly ideas for buildings. Cracks me up that people suggest they are not practical or ugly. Wake up, what is practical about our current building strategies and in my eyes these are far more beautiful and in harmony with nature than most existing structures. Love it!!

Rex Le Grice
Posts: 37

Telephone directories too
Reply #16 on : Mon October 03, 2011, 09:11:16

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A huge waste product each year. I've heard of these houses with external plaster on chicken wire. External walls are the long width and internal walls the narrow width, Recycled doors windows and frames, wooden or tiles but I have heard of one floor of vertical directories. Because its paper all the walls must be waterproofed

wp
Posts: 37

construct
Reply #15 on : Mon October 03, 2011, 09:07:04

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Is shoring installed within the domes during construction?

Timothy
Posts: 37

LOVE THESE!
Reply #14 on : Thu September 29, 2011, 15:16:09

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If someone ever calls you a "dirtbag," say, "thanks for the compliment! Yes, I am a visionary!" I love these homes! They are another form of "earthship," and the fact that they could be built of any dirt/earth/clay/cement, inside bags made of many locally available fabrics/materials, makes them THE practical, cheap, sturdy home of the future. Will share your link on our Facebook group, "Worlders - A Tribe of Wanderers." Thanks for the inspiration!

Keiren Admin
Posts: 37

Earth as Insulation
Reply #13 on : Wed September 28, 2011, 20:29:15

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Hi there Rebecca, If you put an insulating material such as lava stone, scoria, pumice, perlite or vermiculite inside the bags then you can build in cold climates.
Material -- R-value/inch -- R-value/15"
Rice hulls -- R-3 -- R-45
Perlite -- R-2.7 -- R-40
Vermiculite -- R-2.13 -- R-32 to 36
Scoria -- R-26 to R-30 ?

Rebecca
Posts: 37

weather friendly?
Reply #12 on : Wed September 28, 2011, 19:46:02

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How do there hold up to cold weather conditions?

Kate Chamberlain
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #11 on : Wed September 28, 2011, 12:53:53

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All this is a new experience for me. Wow! It can be done! I am posting this on my facebook site.

lydie
Posts: 37

earthbag homes
Reply #10 on : Tue September 27, 2011, 07:35:36

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Sublime Form.
It warms my heart.

kalyana wolf
Posts: 37

an alternative
Reply #9 on : Fri September 23, 2011, 11:42:21

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visit www.greatdetermination.com for pics and articles about an earthbag building in Ohio

Keiren- Admin
Posts: 37

to Rhyfelwyr
Reply #8 on : Tue September 20, 2011, 11:04:03

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Hi, You are right, new cotton bags would not be a green choice. But expert earthbagger Owen Geiger says "Recycled bags made of natural fibers would have the least environmental impact of all bags. The drawbacks include added time and effort tracking them down and the extra cost and labor stabilizing the fill material, so the soil remains a strong building block when the bag inevitably decays." See http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/2011/01/19/natural-fiber-bags/

Rhyfelwyr
Posts: 37

Cotton bags?
Reply #7 on : Mon September 19, 2011, 15:17:39

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Any idea of the lifecycle impact of a cotton bag? Way more than that of plastic. I don't think using cotton in this manner is terribly sustainable.

Admin
Posts: 37

Reply to Winston
Reply #6 on : Sat September 17, 2011, 17:55:00

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Hi Winston,
When dirt is mixed with a binder, making a cement-like structure - and the exterior is plastered - these buildings are fine in most all climates. Many are being built in wet Central America and note the above home in Florida as well. And domes are about the best shape for strong winds, as the winds do not encounter much resistance. Superadobes can be built to meet national U.S. and local building standards. Although in a wet climate it is important to make sure drainage under and surrounding the base of the bldg is adequate. Also aggregate-filled earthbags starting below grade and extending well above grade in flood-prone areas (reduces risk of the structure being undermined) – See this site for expert advice http://earthbagbuilding.wordpress.com/
Best! Thanks for writing...

Last Edit: September 20, 2011, 10:10:58 by green  

Winston
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #5 on : Sat September 17, 2011, 07:53:28

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Encouraging ideas. Still, they look like dry climate concepts because there are no eaves to run the rain off. Many humans live in damp or humid places where a strong dwelling must be above puddles, withstand storms/wind driven rain, and resist mould and dampness.

Sally
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #4 on : Mon September 12, 2011, 22:48:00

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I want one

Kirsten Bradley
Posts: 37

wow what a great resource
Reply #3 on : Mon June 06, 2011, 20:58:14

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nice primer guys! we made one recently at our farm, and we had a ball - http://milkwood.net/2011/05/02/earthbag-dome-happy-home/

Morgan
Posts: 37

Re: Earthbag Construction, Sandbag Buildings
Reply #2 on : Sun June 05, 2011, 09:57:45

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This is a nice primer. It looks like a few of the structures could have benefited from some diddling.

Dave McBurney
Posts: 37

Calearth
Reply #1 on : Sat June 04, 2011, 05:58:54

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Calearth, Earthbag, Superadobe awesome concept absolutely love it, already ideas are ticking over !