Cob, Adobe & Rammed Earth Construction
Adobe, Cob, Soil Cement & Rammed Earth
Earth building techniques are practiced in many parts of the world. While most people might associate this construction practice with third world countries, there are earth building standards in China, Peru, Turkey, New Zealand and Australia. A renewed interest in green building materials has also kept the technique visible in the United States, mostly in the southwestern area of the country.
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Cob Builder's Handbook
Cob gets under your fingernails, into your bones and deep in your heart! If you build with cob, you will be transformed and you will never be the same!
Caution: Cob is addicting!
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DIY Rammed Earth
Our research shows rammed earth construction to be the most simple, environmentally responsible method for building the thermal shell of a home. It will be a strong, quiet, healthy, termite-free, fire-resistant, comfortable home, one weighing 300+ tons and lasting many generations. It will save thousands of dollars annually in utility and maintenance costs along the way.
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Down To Earth Building Bee
The Down to Earth Building Bee (DTEBB) was formed in 1996 to help develop proactive alternatives that will lead towards ending the clearcutting of the ancient temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest.
The DTEBB is currently working with the Stanley Park Ecology Society and the Vancouver Parks Board on the building of a small cob demonstration structure in Stanley Park. The project will commence building in Spring 2004.
By building using cob, we hope to spark the creativity and to show the possibility of ecologically appropriate houses.
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Mud brick (Adobe) Construction
The ideal building material would be 'borrowed' from the environment and replaced after use. There would be little or no processing of the raw material and all the energy inputs would be directly, or indirectly, from the sun. This ideal material would also be cheap. Mud bricks come close to this ideal, or they can do.
Basic mud bricks are made by mixing earth with water, placing the mixture into moulds and drying the bricks in the open air. Straw or other fibres that are strong in tension are often added to the bricks to help reduce cracking. Mud bricks are joined with a mud mortar and can be used to build walls, vaults and domes.
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