Earthbag Building
Many building methods require expensive materials and skilled labor. Nader Khalili came up with a brilliant system of stacking sandbags filled with earth, putting barbed wire in between the courses to keep them from slipping, and tying the courses together to make walls and monolithic buildings. After the bags are stacked, the outside of the building is stuccoed, and the inside is plastered.
This system of building is so simple that one skilled builder can direct an entire crew of unskilled volunteers. All the materials are cheap, too, and mostly green, particularly if no portland cement is used.
Earthbag buildings are virtually indestructible. They stand up to fire, earthquakes, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
Insullation in Earthbag Buildings
The biggest problem with earthbag buildings built with earth is that, while earth gives a building substantial thermal mass, it provides very little insulation. Kelly Hart was the first person known to use crushed volcanic rock, which is much more insulating, in earthbag building. Don Stevens, the inventor of annualized geo-solar heating, is the first person known to use rice hulls in earthbag building.
Advantages of Rice Hulls in Earthbags
Rice hulls are easy to work with, sometimes weighing as little as 1/10 of what a comparable amount of earth would weigh. They have a thermal resistance of about R-3 per inch, are virtually fireproof, and do not support insects, rodents, molds, mildew, or fungus.
Come Build with Recycled Rice
Get hands on experience building with rice hulls.
Come do an internship at the HeartLand Aramaic Mission in Missouri.
Come Build an Earthbag Tipi with us on the Pine Ridge Reservation
Get hands on experience building with earthbags while helping those in need.
In conjunction with Nature's Compassion, we are planning on building an earthbag tipi and an Eco-dome on the Pine Ridge Reservation beginning June 14, 2009. Come join us.
Earthbag Building