Earthbag construction is one of the newest types of sustainable building techniques. I’m so inspired by this little earthbag dome that I just might have to build one someday.
This igloo-like tiny house was designed and built in New South Wales, Australia by Rob & Steph and a steady stream of eager learners. It is 13 ft. in diameter and utilizes passive solar design and a living roof.
They used 700 cubic feet of fill sand and about 700 total man hours (not including finishing work such as plaster, windows, doors and flooring). Total cost was $2,500.
Here’s the view looking up at the loft.
Photos from permaforesttrust.org.au and this article from earthbagbuilding.com. More resources: calearth.org & okokok.org and the ecohouse map.
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes, it does look really nice, but 700 man hours just for the shell?! That’s WAY too much effort for the end result.
Hi Neil,
Michael agrees with you — way too many hours. To their credit, Rob & Steph had to spend a lot of time training the people who came onto the project. They wrote that they could cut the hours by two-thirds if using a consistent team of 3-4 people.
Is the ledge around the roof for collecting rain water?
Yes I believe they are collecting rainwater.
Over here in the states, we have Cal-Earth that creates structures in a similar method. What did you use for your bags? They look like plastic?
Really cool house, i want one
700 hours is not that bad given that included training complete novices as well as construction. However, $2500 for what is barely larger than a garden shed is a bit poor. You can buy similar sized prefab garden sheds that you can put together on a lazy Sunday afternoon on your own at a similar price.