Earthbag Building
eBook - ePub
Available until 23 Dec |Learn more

Earthbag Building

The Tools, Tricks and Techniques

  1. 288 pages
  2. English
  3. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub
Available until 23 Dec |Learn more

Earthbag Building

The Tools, Tricks and Techniques

About this book

The only comprehensive, illustrated, step-by-step guide to building with earthbags.

Over seventy percent of Americans cannot afford to own a code-enforced, contractor-built home. This has led to widespread interest in using natural materials-straw, cob, and earth-for building homes and other buildings that are inexpensive, and that rely largely on labor rather than expensive and often environmentally-damaging outsourced materials.

Earthbag Building is the first comprehensive guide to all the tools, tricks, and techniques for building with bags filled with earth-or earthbags. Having been introduced to sandbag construction by the renowned Nader Khalili in 1993, the authors developed this "Flexible Form Rammed Earth Technique" over the last decade. A reliable method for constructing homes, outbuildings, garden walls and much more, this enduring, tree-free architecture can also be used to create arched and domed structures of great beauty-in any region, and at home, in developing countries, or in emergency relief work.

This profusely illustrated guide first discusses the many merits of earthbag construction, and then leads the reader through the key elements of an earthbag building:

  • Special design considerations
  • Foundations, walls, and floors
  • Electrical, plumbing, and shelving
  • Lintels, windows and door installations
  • Roofs, arches and domes
  • Exterior and interior plasters.

With dedicated sections on costs, making your own specialized tools, and building code considerations, as well as a complete resources guide, Earthbag Building is the long-awaited, definitive guide to this uniquely pleasing construction style.

Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series

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Yes, you can access Earthbag Building by Kaki Hunter, Donald Kiffmeyer in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Architecture & Sustainability in Architecture. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Praise
  2. Title Page
  3. Books for Wiser Living from Mother Earth News
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Foreword
  6. Introduction
  7. CHAPTER 1 - The Merits of Earthbag Building
  8. CHAPTER 2 - Basic Materials for Earthbag Building
  9. CHAPTER 3 - Tools, Tricks, and Terminology
  10. CHAPTER 4 - Foundations
  11. CHAPTER 5 - Structural Design Features for Earthbag Walls
  12. CHAPTER 6 - Step-By-Step Flexible-Form Rammed Earth Technique, or How to Turn ...
  13. CHAPTER 7 - Electrical, Plumbing, Shelving, and Intersecting Walls: Making the Connection
  14. CHAPTER 8 - Lintel, Window, and Door Installation
  15. CHAPTER 9 - Roof Systems
  16. CHAPTER 10 - Arches: Putting the Arc Back into Architecture
  17. CHAPTER 11 - Dynamics of a Dome
  18. CHAPTER 12 - Illustrated Guide to Dome Construction
  19. CHAPTER 13 - Roofing Options for Domes
  20. CHAPTER 14 - Exterior Plasters
  21. CHAPTER 15 - Interior Plasters
  22. CHAPTER 16 - Floors
  23. CHAPTER 17 - Designing for Your Climate
  24. CHAPTER 18 - The Code
  25. APPENDIX A - Build Your Own Dirtbag Tools
  26. APPENDIX B - How To Figure Basic Earthbag Construction Costs, Labor, and Time
  27. APPENDIX C - Conversions and Calculations
  28. APPENDIX D - The Magic of a Circle
  29. Resource Guide
  30. Index
  31. About the Authors
  32. Copyright Page