calearth.org this film shows how a pile of earth, dug out from the building site, is turned into a small house called Eco- Dome (moon cocoon model), using the Superadobe technology. It documents how professionals and students from many countries training at Cal-Earth Institute built this structure. It is intended for use with materials and tools developed for instruction during the apprenticeship retreat at Cal-Earth. Superadobe technology was first presented by the architect to NASA for lunar habitats, and can build single or clustered homes on earth which are resistant to fire, floods, wind storms and earthquakes.
some sweet info here
wtf is this shit “GOD” fuck off
I *will* be re-sharing this video through Google+ as we speak. As I continue to read about hurricanes and earthquakes, I look at traditional home construction and I continue to shake my head. WHY? Many of the ridiculously “High Priced” homes are NOT designed with hurricanes in mind, and houses split in TWO by nearby trees cost people even more money. Time to embrace an eco-friendly building technique.
@TheOneAndOnlyMichel And with those bags, filled with the local soil you build your house. Extra cost comes from the barbed wire needed, and windows, flooring, tools and household items ofcourse, that is logical and you can make it as expensive as you want. The idea is to go to South America somewhere, land is still cheap there for now, and build a small village and grow our own food and perhaps turn part op it into a small tourist-stay where they can come to relax and ride on a horse, whatever
@cristriky I think it isn’t above 3,000 USD. The bags that are used is the only thing you need to buy, those come rolled up, these rolls are the most expensive. I am not sure how much of the roll is used for one medium sized ecodome, but I figure if you use the whole roll, then it costs 2,000-3,000 USD. So if you own a house now, and sell it with a litle profit, you can build a small village of these. Let me know if you are interested in doing so, I am making a plan/project for a small village.
never saw anything like this before, am going to the web site to see what is possible in wet old Ireland, maybe start off with a garden shed to see how that goes.
anyone in Ireland got a shovel and a strong back? fancy digging for more then tatties?
translation for non Irish, tatties=spuds=potatoes.
Lets build our selves a home
Does this method work in wet regions? How is the structure insulated for cold regions?
I want one.
Hey! It’s the Dos Eqis guy!
@11mac11s An earthbag home can be build with burlap bags. The benefit of building with earthbags is that you can create the same kind of a structure as a cob home but don’t have to dig as deeply to get to the clay. Also, with earthbags there is no need to mix with straw. Various options exist like volcanic ash or rice hulls that make this house indestructible. There are benefits to cob and earthbag but one is not better than the other. However, earthbag building is more economical.
@chaijm Yes, you can build with burlap bags. The reason that poly bags are used is because they are generally more reasonably priced in bulk. Building with bags creates a rammed earth form without the expense of a rammed earth home. If the mixture is properly balanced then the rammed earth will become hard as a brick. However, even though you can used cloth bags it’s still advised to use poly bags of some kind.
it’s interesting how developing countries will adopt this faster than developed countries. But then, civilization has advanced throughout history in the same manner. Ancient Greeks, Egyptians, Babylonians were once central hubs and the most advanced civilizations, now they are ruins and the newer civilizations have built up cities elsewhere where land was probably once barren.
@queenofabnormal , I went to Cal Earth on the net and looked at what they have to offer, they want you to go to their schooling to be able to do this. I wanted to send my son but he had no interest. I think someone could learn to do this well and make a career of building these houses for people.
yoda has a house like this, i love it
what keeps weeds from growing out of your home? do you pre-treat the soil before you place it in bags so that the endogenous seeds in the soil do not germinate?
how well insulated are these? are there particular climates that these homes are best suited for?
can i also use
insteead the plastic bags/tubes
renewable, plant based material?
i would prefer an ecoligical building without plastic.
What about all the plastic used to make the house? The house is not a nature home at all. Build with cob.
i’m so curiouse how much a house like this can cost….in a house like this i want to live for ever!!!!!1
awesome structure it looks really cool ^.^
Is the plan to this particular house available online?
Reminds me of the beehive structures the Irish monks built, but their was out of stone. Still standing after a thousand years. Thanks for this!
Little of the soil composition of planet Earth is older than the Tertiary and most no older than the Pleistocene. In engineering, soil is referred to as regolith, or loose rock material.
Soil particles pack loosely, forming a soil structure filled with pore spaces. These pores contain soil solution (liquid) and air (gas). Accordingly, soils are often treated as a three state system. Most soils have a density between 1 and 2 g/cm³. Soil is also known as earth: it is the substance from which our planet takes its name.