DOCSLIB.ORG

How to Build an Earthbag Roundhouse by Owen Geiger on January 28, 2011

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
How to Build an Earthbag Roundhouse by Owen Geiger on January 28, 2011 Home Sign Up! Browse Community Submit All Art Craft Food Games Green Home Kids Life Music Offbeat Outdoors Pets Photo Ride Science Tech How to Build an Earthbag Roundhouse by Owen Geiger on January 28, 2011 Table of Contents License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) . 2 Intro: How to Build an Earthbag Roundhouse . 2 step 1: Earthbag Foundation . 2 step 2: Door Thresholds and Door Bucks . 3 step 3: Stacking Soil-filled Bags . 3 step 4: Measuring the Radius . 4 step 5: Tamping and Leveling . 4 step 6: Metal or Wood Anchors . 5 step 7: Anchors for Electrical Boxes . 5 step 8: Window Bucks . 6 step 9: Bond Beam . 6 step 10: Build the Roof . 7 step 11: Install Doors and Windows . 8 step 12: Cement Plaster on Exterior Walls . 8 step 13: Earthen Plaster on Interior Walls . 9 step 14: Finishing Details . 9 step 15: Interior View . 10 step 16: Exterior View . 10 step 17: Conclusion . 10 step 18: Final Earthbag Roundhouse Video . 11 Related Instructables . 11 Comments . 12 http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-an-Earthbag-Roundhouse/ License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) Intro: How to Build an Earthbag Roundhouse Note: If you’re new to earthbag building, please read the introductory Step-by-Step Earthbag Building Instructable first. We built this earthbag roundhouse in 2010 as part of an earthbag workshop in Thailand, and finished it later that summer. Roundhouses are perhaps the simplest, fastest, easiest earthbag structure to build. We’re extremely pleased with the results, especially in terms of strength and cost. This is one of the strongest structures I’ve ever worked on in my 30-plus year construction career. The main impression is one of incredible fortresslike strength - massive walls with no sway. I’m sure it could easily withstand a direct hit by a speeding vehicle. This is no exaggeration. There’s been at least one incident where a drunk driver hit an earthbag wall and only chipped the plaster. (The vehicle was totaled.) Earthbags also excel at withstanding floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes. Engineered plans are now available for whatever conditions you face. Earthbags are even bullet resistant, as explained in our highly popular blog post where compressed earth withstood 50 cal “BMG” 661 grain Full Metal Jacket rounds. Bullet Resistance of Compressed Earth The other key advantage of earthbag is cost. For our roundhouse, we wanted things to look nice, of course, but we didn't want to spend a fortune. The final cost came out to $11.50/square foot. Most stick-built houses are $100/sq. ft. and up, so this roundhouse demonstrates how anyone can build their own home even on a very tight budget. We used a few basic, low cost methods to class up the roundhouse: rounded window and door openings (free), nice colors (no extra cost), curved bathroom wall and buttress (no extra cost to create curves), exposed wood and thatch roof (dirt cheap), earthen plaster on the interior (really dirt cheap), and lots of beautiful old windows for views, ventilation and to add a sense of spaciousness. In summary, build small -- just what you need, use simple shapes, pay with cash, and add on later if needed. Basic project information: 18’ exterior diameter; 15’ interior diameter; 177 sq. ft. interior floor space; total cost of materials: $2,045, which is about $11.50/square foot This Instructable is not an exhaustive how-to article. It would take an ebook to cover everything, which is what I’m finishing up at the moment. My new earthbag building book will be available soon – probably near the end of February 2011. Watch for the announcement and stay up-to-date on all the latest earthbag news by following our Earthbag Building Blog . The following instructions assume you have cleared and leveled the site, removed topsoil, positioned fill soil around the building site to minimize work, dug a trench to stable subsoil, buried any utilities, put about 12” of gravel in the trench, and added a center pole with stringline to measure the radius. Bags or tubes can be used. We demonstrate bags, because they’re often available recycled for very low cost. My YouTube Channel has short video clips that show each step of construction. Image Notes 1. Finished Earthbag Roundhouse step 1: Earthbag Foundation Earthbag foundations – gravel-filled bags or stabilized bags – offer many advantages over reinforced concrete foundations and work well with many types of sustainable buildings. In particular, they are low-cost, fast and easy to build, require no cement (a major expense and cause of global climate change), and require no forms or expensive equipment. In cold climates you can use lava rock or pumice to create an insulated foundation. This one simple step can save you thousands of dollars over building with concrete, and cut your energy costs. Typical earthbag foundations are made with poly bags (double-bagged for strength) filled with gravel. Aggregates are preferred for foundations because they will readily drain away any moisture and prevent wicking into the wall system. Some prefer to use stabilized soil in earthbag foundations, seeing it as a longer lasting solution. The jury is still out, but it appears poly bags kept out of sunlight can last hundreds of years, so gravel-filled bags should last at least a lifetime. Simply fill the bags in place with gravel. Stitch the ends closed or fold the bag end over. Butt each bag tight against the previous bag. Tamp the bags flat after each course is complete. Add two strands of 4-point barbed wire between each course. Add courses of gravel-filled bags until you’re at least 6” above the risk of moisture damage. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-an-Earthbag-Roundhouse/ Image Notes Image Notes 1. Last Course of Gravel Bags 1. Completed Gravel Bag Foundation step 2: Door Thresholds and Door Bucks You’ll want durable thresholds at entry doors. I recommend concrete or stone for this purpose. In this method, finished floor height (F.F.) is the same height as the threshold. In other words, the threshold and floor will be exactly the same height. To build the threshold this way, pour a 2”-3” concrete threshold, sloped slightly for drainage, on top of the earthbags at each entry door location,. You can add concrete pigment to make it any color you want. Allow adequate time for drying (about one week, depending on the temperature), and then set the door buck on the threshold and brace securely in position. Image Notes 1. Door Threshold step 3: Stacking Soil-filled Bags At this point you can continue stacking courses of bags for the remainder of the walls, but now the bags are filled with soil. (Although there are numerous alternative fill materials. See our Earthbag Building Blog for full details.) Most subsoil is suitable for earthbag construction. Subsoil is the clay/aggregate soil that’s below the topsoil. You could dig your own, but you can buy it very inexpensively and save many days of hard work. You can also buy an engineered mix called road base, which contains the ideal ratio of clay to aggregates, no mixing required. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-an-Earthbag-Roundhouse/ Image Notes 1. Stacking Earthbags step 4: Measuring the Radius Measure the radius of each course of bags to maintain an accurate circle. Tie a piece of rope to the center pole and use it to check the radius to every bag. Always keep the rope level for accurate results. step 5: Tamping and Leveling Tamp earthbags solid and level after each course is complete. Tamp the high points first. Then evenly tamp the entire wall several times as you continually move the tamper. This last step avoids creating low spots. And if you use the same number of buckets of soil in each bag, and are careful placing the bags, the courses are almost self-leveling. Consistency is the key. Use the same process for each bag. Remember to place two strands of 4-point barbed wire between every course. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-an-Earthbag-Roundhouse/ step 6: Metal or Wood Anchors Add metal or wood anchors every few courses to secure door and window bucks to the earthbags. Most people use wood anchors. But in areas with termites, it’s best to use anchors made of galvanized sheet metal. They’re inexpensive, strong, easy to make from scrap metal, resistant to decay and, because they’re thin, they don’t take up space between bags like wood anchors do. In most cases, sheet metal anchors are preferred over wood anchors. Simply nail into the earthbags with galvanized nails and screw into the backside of the bucks. Image Notes 1. Metal Anchors step 7: Anchors for Electrical Boxes Most earthbag builders use some type of improvised wood or plywood anchor to attach electrical boxes. I’ve found the simplest solution to be 3” wood.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Iron Age Mnemonics: : a Biographical Approach to Dwelling in Later Prehistoric Britain
    This is a repository copy of Iron Age Mnemonics: : A Biographical Approach to Dwelling in Later Prehistoric Britain. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/174001/ Version: Published Version Article: Buster, Lindsey Sarah orcid.org/0000-0003-4121-9431 (2021) Iron Age Mnemonics: : A Biographical Approach to Dwelling in Later Prehistoric Britain. Cambridge Archaeological Journal. ISSN 0959-7743 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959774321000263 Reuse This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence. This licence allows you to distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the work, even commercially, as long as you credit the authors for the original work. More information and the full terms of the licence here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Iron Age Mnemonics: A Biographical Approach to Dwelling in Later Prehistoric Britain Lindsey Büster Domestic architecture played a central role in the identity of later prehistoric communities, particularly in creating lasting bonds between the living and the dead. Acting as a conduit of memory and legacy for successive generations of inhabitants, roundhouses straddled the divide between house and memorial. The exceptionally well preserved Late Iron Age settlement at Broxmouth in southeast Scotland demonstrates the potential of biographical approaches in understanding the central role that roundhouses played in fashioning the identity of successive households, and the role of objects in constructing genealogical narratives.
    [Show full text]
  • Earthbag Technology - Simple, Safe and Sustainable
    EARTHBAG TECHNOLOGY - SIMPLE, SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE Dr. Owen GEIGER1, Kateryna ZEMSKOVA2 1 Director of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Building, USA Nepal Engineer's Association [email protected] Earthbag Technology - Simple, Safe and Sustainable 2 Co-Founder and President of Good Earth Nepal, a New York based non-profit organization, USA [email protected] Dr. Owen GEIGER Kateryna ZEMSKOVA Director of the Geiger Research Institute of Sustainable Co-Founder and President of Good Earth Nepal, Building, USA a New York based non-profit organization, USA [email protected] [email protected] ABSTRACT Earthbag technology is an inexpensive, simple and sustainable method for building structures. Having evolved from military bunker construction and flood control methods, Earthbag buildings are notable for their ability to endure fire, flood, wind, earthquake and vermin, and are used in disaster-prone zones all over the world. In Nepal, all 55 Earthbag buildings survived a 7.8 magnitude earthquake with no structural damage. Because Earthbag technology makes minimal use of cement, concrete, steel and timber, and the fuel needed to transport them. This technique is easy on the environment, and doesn’t deplete scarce natural resources. Earthbag technology also requires less expertise than other traditional building methods, and only the simplest of tools. I. INTRODUCTION Earthbag technology is a wall system with structures composed primarily of ordinary soil found at the construction site. The soil is stuffed inside polypropylene bags, which are then staggered like masonry and solidly tamped. Barbed wire is used between the layers of bags and serves as mortar. For seismically active zones reinforcements like buttresses, vertical rebars and bond beams are recommended.
    [Show full text]
  • Plastic Limit Analysis of Earthbag Structures
    Plastic Limit Analysis of Earthbag Structures Student: Ralph Pelly Supervisor: Dr Andrew Heath Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering The University of Bath 2009 AR40223 MEng dissertation 1 Abstract In this paper, a detailed experimental analysis is carried out of the strength and structural performance of earthbag construction. An attempt at modelling the behaviour of earthbag arches using masonry arch plastic limit analysis is made, and conclusions drawn regarding its applicability to this method of construction. The relatively short history of earthbag construction is reviewed, and particular reference made to a planned earthbag dome project in the Namib Desert, Namibia. Constituent materials of polypropylene bags and sandy fill material are used to match expected conditions on this project, and material properties are defined in a series of tests. The compression strength, stiffness and friction coefficient of the earthbags are determined and used in further analysis on the structural system. Earthbag arches are tested, and it is shown that earthbag structures undergo large plastic deformations before ultimate collapse, and that properties can be improved significantly through the stabilisation of fill material. It is concluded that plastic limit analysis is appropriate only where stabilised fill material is employed. 2 Acknowledgements I would like to give my sincerest thanks and appreciation for all the support and advice I have received from so many people, not just in writing this paper but in studying for my degree over the last four years. It would not have been possible without them: Will Bazeley, Neil Price, Brian Purnell and Sophie Hayward, for their tireless and enduringly positive support through the entire experimental programme.
    [Show full text]
  • Earthbag Housing: Structural Behaviour and Applicability in Developing Countries
    EARTHBAG HOUSING: STRUCTURAL BEHAVIOUR AND APPLICABILITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES by Bryce Callaghan Daigle A thesis submitted to the Department of Civil Engineering In conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada September, 2008 Copyright © Bryce Callaghan Daigle, 2008 Abstract Global awareness of environmental issues such as climate change and resource depletion has grown dramatically in recent years. As a result, there has been a surge of interest in developing alternative building techniques and materials which are capable of meeting our structural needs with lower energy and material consumption. These technologies are particularly attractive for housing. Much of the global demand for housing is currently being driven by economic growth in developing countries. Additionally, natural disasters such as the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami have destroyed houses in many countries where limited economic wealth makes reconstruction a challenge. This has resulted in shortages of permanent housing in these areas. This thesis explores the structural behaviour of earthbag housing under vertical compressive loading, in an attempt to broaden our quantitative understanding of this alternative building technique. Furthermore, this technique is assessed, along with other alternative construction techniques, for suitability in southern Sri Lanka, an area heavily damaged by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It was determined that the compressive strength of unplastered earthbag housing specimens meets or exceeds the vertical compressive strength of conventional stud-frame housing technology using a variety of fill materials, with the greatest strength being observed for soil- filled bags. Furthermore, the results of observational research from a site visit to Sri Lanka in 2006, combined with resource availability data and interviews with Sri Lankan citizens, suggest that earthbag housing is a very promising technique for housing construction in the southern coastal region.
    [Show full text]
  • Allasdale Dunes, Barra, Western Isles, Scotland
    Wessex Archaeology Allasdale Dunes, Barra Western Isles, Scotland Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results Ref: 65305 October 2008 Allasdale Dunes, Barra, Western Isles, Scotland Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results Prepared on behalf of: Videotext Communications Ltd 49 Goldhawk Road LONDON W12 8QP By: Wessex Archaeology Portway House Old Sarum Park SALISBURY Wiltshire SP4 6EB Report reference: 65305.01 October 2008 © Wessex Archaeology Limited 2008, all rights reserved Wessex Archaeology Limited is a Registered Charity No. 287786 Allasdale Dunes, Barra, Western Isles, Scotland Archaeological Evaluation and Assessment of Results Contents Summary Acknowledgements 1 BACKGROUND..................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction................................................................................................1 1.2 Site Location, Topography and Geology and Ownership ......................1 1.3 Archaeological Background......................................................................2 Neolithic.......................................................................................................2 Bronze Age ...................................................................................................2 Iron Age........................................................................................................4 1.4 Previous Archaeological Work at Allasdale ............................................5 2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.................................................................................6
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis of Structural Components During Cyclical Loading of Steel Reinforced Earthbag Construction Noah Strong Santa Clara University
    Santa Clara University Scholar Commons Civil Engineering Senior Theses Engineering Senior Theses Spring 2018 Analysis of Structural Components During Cyclical Loading of Steel Reinforced Earthbag Construction Noah Strong Santa Clara University Emil Huebner Santa Clara University Ethan Jensen Santa Clara University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/ceng_senior Part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Strong, Noah; Huebner, Emil; and Jensen, Ethan, "Analysis of Structural Components During Cyclical Loading of Steel Reinforced Earthbag Construction" (2018). Civil Engineering Senior Theses. 63. https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/ceng_senior/63 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Engineering Senior Theses at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Civil Engineering Senior Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 12 S H 613.2018 ANALYSIS OF STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS DURING CYCLICAL LOADING OF STEEL REINFORCED EARTHBAG CONSTRUCTION by Noah Strong Emil Huebner Ethan Jensen SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT REPORT Submitted to the Department of Civil Engineering of SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Santa Clara, California Spring 2018 ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We would like to thank our Faculty Advisors, Dr. Tonya Nilsson and Dr. Mark Aschheim. Dr. Nilsson has guided, motivated, and assisted this design project the entire school year. Dr. Nilsson is an expert in alternative building methods and alternative building materials. Dr. Mark Aschheim designed and built the Three Degree-of-Freedom Test Frame and was vital in the testing success and data analysis.
    [Show full text]
  • Analysis of the Thermal Behavior of an Earthbag Building in Mediterranean Continental Climate: Monitoring and Simulation
    energies Article Analysis of the Thermal Behavior of an Earthbag Building in Mediterranean Continental Climate: Monitoring and Simulation Lídia Rincón, Ariadna Carrobé, Marc Medrano * , Cristian Solé, Albert Castell and Ingrid Martorell y SEMB Research Group, INSPIRES Research Centre, Universitat de Lleida, Pere de Cabrera s/n, 25001 Lleida, Spain; [email protected] (L.R.); [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (C.S.); [email protected] (A.C.); [email protected] (I.M.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Serra Húnter Fellow, Generalitat de Catalunya. y Received: 7 November 2019; Accepted: 24 December 2019; Published: 30 December 2019 Abstract: Nearly 30% of humanity lives in earthen dwellings. Earthbag is a sustainable, cheap, feasible and comfortable option for emergency housing. A comparative monitoring-simulation analysis of the hygrothermal behavior of an Earthbag dwelling in Mediterranean continental climate, designed under bioclimatic criteria, is presented. The dome shape Earthbag dwelling has a net floor area of 7.07 m2, a glass door facing south and two confronted windows in the east and west facades. A numerical model (EnergyPlus v8.8) was designed for comparison. Twenty-four hour cross ventilation, night cross ventilation, and no ventilation in free floating mode and a controlled indoor temperature were the tested scenarios. Comparisons between experimental data and simulation show a good match in temperature behavior for the scenarios studied. Reductions of 90% in summer and 88% in winter, in the interior thermal amplitude with respect to exterior temperatures are found. Position of the glazed openings was fundamental in the direct solar gains, contributing to the increase of temperature in 1.31 ◦C in winter and 1.37 ◦C in the equinox.
    [Show full text]
  • Native American Settlement to 1969
    29 Context: Native American Settlement to 1969 Francisco Patencio outside the roundhouse, c. 1940. Source: Palm Springs Historical Society. FINAL DRAFT – FOR CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL City of Palm Springs Citywide Historic Context Statement & Survey Findings HISTORIC RESOURCES GROUP 30 CONTEXT: NATIVE AMERICAN SETTLEMENT TO 196923 The earliest inhabitants of the Coachella Valley are the Native people known ethnohistorically as the Cahuilla Indians. The Cahuilla territory includes the areas from the San Jacinto Mountains, the San Gorgonia Pass, and the desert regions reaching east to the Colorado River. The Cahuilla language is part of the Takic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family and all the Cahuilla groups speak a mutually intelligible despite different dialects. The Cahuilla group that inhabited the Palm Springs area are known as the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. The Cahuilla name for the area that is now Palm Springs is Sec-he, “boiling water,” named for the hot springs located in what is currently the center of the Palm Springs business district. The springs have always provided clean water, bathing, and a connection to the spiritual world, and were used for ceremonial and healing purposes.24 The Cahuilla people refer to themselves as ‘ivi’lyu’atum and are ethnographically divided into two patrilineal moieties: the Wildcats and the Coyotes. Each moiety was further divided into clans which are made up of lineages. Lineages had their own territory and hunting rights within a larger clan territory. There are a number of lineages in the Palm Springs area, which each have religious and political autonomy. Prior to European contact, Cahuilla communities established summer settlements in the palm-lined mountain canyons around the Coachella valley; oral histories and archaeological evidence indicates that they settled in the Tahquitz Canyon at least 5,000 years ago.25 The Cahuilla moved each winter to thatched shelters clustered around the natural mineral hot springs on the valley floor.
    [Show full text]
  • Prehistoric Hilltop Settlement in the West of Ireland Number 89 Summer
    THE NEWSLETTERAST OF THE PREHISTORIC SOCIETY P Registered Office: University College London, Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY http://www.prehistoricsociety.org/ Prehistoric hilltop settlement in the west of Ireland For two weeks during the summer of 2017, from the end footed roundhouses were recorded on the plateau, and further of July through the first half of August, an excavation was structures were identified in a survey undertaken by Margie carried out at three house sites on Knocknashee, Co. Sligo, Carty from NUI Galway during the early 2000s, bringing by a team from Queen’s University Belfast. Knocknashee the total to 42 roundhouses. is a visually impressive flat-topped limestone hill rising 261 m above the central Sligo countryside. Archaeologists However, neither of these two surveys was followed up by have long been drawn to the summit of Knocknashee excavation, and as the boom of development-driven archae- because of the presence of two large limestone cairns to the ology during the Celtic Tiger years has largely spared exposed north of the plateau, and aerial photographs taken by the hilltop locations, our archaeological knowledge not only of Cambridge University Committee for Aerial Photography Knocknashee, but also of prehistoric hilltop settlements in in the late 1960s also identified an undetermined number Ireland more widely remains relatively limited in comparison of prehistoric roundhouses on the summit. During survey to many other categories of site. This lack of knowledge work undertaken
    [Show full text]
  • Earthbag Building in the Humid Tropics
    1 Earthbag Building in the Humid Tropics Earthbag Building in the Humid Tropics: Simple Structures 2nd edition Patti Stouter June 2011 Online version available at www.EarthbagBuilding.com and at www.Scribd.com/patti_stouter. Please share these free self-help guidelines and let us know how to improve them. 2 Earthbag Building in the Humid Tropics TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 About Earthbag 5 Types of Earthbag 7 ‘Raw’ Earth Versus Cement 11 Exterior Finishes STEP BY STEP: GENERAL PRINCIPLES 14 Soil Tests 15 Materials LAYOUTS FOR NON-HAZARDOUS AREAS 16 Buttress Corners 17 Piers at Corners, Straight Walls 18 Circles, Corrugated Walls, Wall Height & Thickness 19 Window & Door Openings, Window & Door Sizes, Windows without Arches 20 Roof INSTRUCTIONS 20 Placing Bags 22 Base Course, Openings 24 Bond Beam, Roof, Floor 26 Finishes 25 A Note About Working Across Cultures 28 Acknowledgements, About the Author, 29 Bibliography 3 Earthbag Building in the Humid Tropics In many parts of the world buildings must be extra strong for earthquakes or hurricanes and tsunamis. Other publications can help you plan for this.1 West Africa, northeastern South America and some parts of China and India do not have many earthquakes. Check the global seismic hazard assessment program (GSHAP) maps to be sure that your area is not at risk for earthquakes. If you live far enough inland where cyclones are not strong and tsunamis can't reach, these guidelines can help you try a new way of building simple structures with earth. Your buildings must resist termites and mold as well as be right for the climate, and for how people live.
    [Show full text]
  • Soil and Health Library
    Soil and Health Library This document is a reproduction of the book or other copyrighted material you requested. It was prepared on Friday, 23 March 2012 for the exclusive use of Homestead 101, whose email address is [email protected] This reproduction was made by the Soil and Health Library only for the purpose of research and study. Any further distribution or reproduction of this copy in any form whatsoever constitutes a violation of copyrights. PAULINA WOJCIECHOWSKA THE REAL GOODS SOLAR LIVING BOOKS This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader by Joan Gussow The Beauty of Straw Bale Homes by Athena and Bill Steen Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates by Paul Lacinski and Michel Bergeron The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes by Daniel D. Chiras The New Independent Home: People and Houses that Harvest the Sun, Wind, and Water by Michael Potts Wind Energy Basics and Wind Power for Home & Business by Paul Gipe The Earth-Sheltered House: An Architect's Sketchbook by Malcolm Wells Mortgage-Free! Radical Strategies for Home Ownership by Rob Roy A Place in the Sun: The Evolution of the Real Goods Solar Living Center by John Schaeffer and the Collaborative Design/Construction Team The Passive Solar House: Using Solar Design to Heat and Cool Your Home by James Kachadorian Independent Builder: Designing & Building a House Your Own Way by Sam Clark The Rammed Earth House by David Easton The Straw Bale House by Athena Swentzell Steen, Bill Steen, and David Bainbridge with David Eisenberg Real Goods Solar Living Sourcebook: The Complete Guide to Renewable Energy Technologies and Sustainable Living, 10th Edition, edited by Doug Pratt and John Schaeffer REAL GOODS TRADING COMPANY in Ukiah, California, was founded in 1978 to make available new tools to help people live self- sufficiently and sustainably.
    [Show full text]
  • Earthbag Seed Banks
    Technical Note NO. 96 | June 2020 Earthbag Seed Banks Cody Kiefer, Elliott Toevs, and Tim Motis Seed storage in the tropics has been a frequent topic of ECHO publications and trainings due to its importance to the smallholder farmer. Access to quality seeds is imperative for agronomic and horticultural crop production. While on-farm seed saving benefits the smallholder farmer, cooperative seed storage through the creation of seed banks bolsters farmers at the community level. Seed banks provide secure structures for seed storage, while also serving as genetic repositories for important plants in the community. Centralizing the seed saving process also allows for cooperative investment in appropriate technologies and data management. As members of a community learn these management skills, they are empowered to save seeds themselves. Seed preservation in the tropics is rife with difficulties due to high temperatures and humidity, so investing in worthwhile storage technologies is instrumental in smallholder communities. Of course, the process of establishing a seed bank involves community buy-in, stakeholder cooperation, and resource investment. While the social elements of seed banking are important, this Technical Note focuses on earthbag building techniques as a resource-effective means of establishing a seed bank. ECHO has now installed earthbag seed banks at two of its locations: one in Thailand and one in Florida. This publication will outline the benefits of earthbag seed banks, as well as how to get started with your own project. Introduction to earthbag structures Earthbag structures possess myriad qualities that are advantageous for seed banking: permanence, low-tech, cost effectiveness, and temperature moderation potential.
    [Show full text]