As many of our readers know we are very "high" on earthbag homes as a DIY home construction methodology. But this is only a component in a well designed life path strategy designed to provide long-term sustainability and survival in times of economic distress and upheaval.
Our model for sustainability is (this is a very concise thumbnail sketch)....
1. Get debt free.
2. Buy rural off-grid property, in a strategic location - abundant water and sun, capable of defense, allies nearby.....etc...
3. develop and stockpile your own energy sources (solar, wind, coal, wood, propane)
4. build your own earthbag home (....for as little as $2 to $5 per square foot)
5. develop your own comfort-level of sustainability: Greenhouses, farming, animals
6. enhance and develop your security
Obviously this approach may be hard for some to take. But your home can be whatever you want or feel comfortable with provided you calculate and account for your long-term needs.
A properly motivated person can, with minor levels of training, a piece of land, and maybe $10,000 in cash - can design and build a nice, comfortable, clean earthbag home. This is a powerful tool for anyone who wishes to live a sovereign life.
Imagine buying a few acres of land, building your own home, developing your own solar, wind and other off-grid energy sources. You would then be living a lifestyle, which while different than most - would be highly sustainable and easily maintained. Imagine if you had no debt, and lived in a home that is paid for and wholly owned by you. You could do quite well on much less income and live a more satisfying complete lifestyle. Additionally, if you had a large garden and greenhouse, along with some chickens, cows, rabbits and other animals, you wouldn't have to worry about losing a job, or other economic uncertainty because you could sustain yourself or your family for months with little or no income. We have estimate that living in this scenario you could easily survive and even thrive with income of only a few hundred dollars per month. Do you think that might provide peace of mind for you?
Of course other great design modes are abundant, and include: Rammed earth, strawbale, concrete, and even shipping container construction.
If you're not familiar with earthbag construction take a minute to read this little introduction.
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You don't often see a home for sale advertised as "dirt cheap." You certainly won't find many contractors who brag about a dirt cheap building method. A dirt cheap price for a home might just signify a money pit, a disaster in the making. An exception to that rule, however, might be building with actual dirt.
Home Design Image Gallery
http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/projects/verticalwalls.htm
Earthbag homes are exactly what they sound like -- bags filled with earthen materials stacked to make a house. They often look like big beehives when they're completed, but it's possible for them to take other forms as well. Sandbags have long been used to create military bunkers and flood walls, but their role in building homes is fairly new.
In the 1970s, Iranian architect Nader Khalili was working in the countrysides of Iran, teaching villagers how to make their adobe homes solid by a process that was like firing clay in a kiln. When he came to the United States, however, he realized that adobe homes weren't always practical or economical but that elements of the earth could still be used to create a stable home that anyone could afford.
Khalili, who established the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture in Hesperia, Calif., identified sand as a resource that was available to everyone. He began stacking sandbags like bricks, using barbed wire as a kind of mortar. Eventually, Khalili developed superadobe, which is a building method that uses mile-long fabric tubes that can be pumped full of soil and laid in coils to create a structure. Khalili saw these superadobe earthen structures as a way to provide temporary housing in the case of natural emergencies, low-cost housing for the poor and even lunar housing, with astronauts taking the tubes to the moon and using materials there as fill. He presented this idea to NASA and built a prototype lunar colony in Hesperia.
Other great examples are here:
http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/projects/robinshouse.htm
http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/projects/pisco.htm
http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/projects/kennedyhouse.htm
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