Save trees. Make the whole darned house out these things. InnoVida panels made with composite skins can be almost everything but the foundation!

UPDATE: Turns out two officers InnoVida Holdings LLC were convicted for a massive fraud several years after this post was originally published.   InnoVida Holdings Exec Gets 4 Years For $40M Scheme.  

SIP's (Structural Insulated Panels) have been around for 50 years and there must be 50 variations on them. Generally a SIP is a sandwich with insulating material in the middle and hard material on the outside. Most of the time the SIP's are used only for exterior walls. Occasionally they are used for Roof decking and/or as subfloors.

The SIP produced by InnoVida Holdings LLC, which they call a Fiber Composite Panel (FCP), is used to make exterior and interior loadbearing walls, roof decks, subfloors, columns, beams, connecting pieces and trim as well as built in furniture such as shelves and cabinets.

The InnoVida FCP features composite structural skins made of high-strength E-Glass fiber fabrics impregnated with a fire-resistant polymeric epoxy resin. Unlike wood skinned SIP's the FCP has no food for termites and cannot rot. Unlike SIP's with concrete skins the FCP requires no portland cement. Unlike any other SIP I know of, the FCP's are joined using chemicals to create a chemical bond or "weld".

Also unlike any SIP I know of InnoVida's panels are light enough to allow entire houses (not just demonstration houses but real houses) to be built without the use of a crane. Imagine how light a truly tiny house would be! Yet the chemical welds would create a unitary structure . Also the exterior finish of the FCP could be as simple as paint where as wood skinned SIP's require exterior siding and interior drywall.

In the Innovida system interior walls are used structurally which allows the elimination of trusses in many cases. The interior walls are of course as insulated as the exterior walls which would make small houses much more functionally quiet.

As with most other SIP's the InnoVida's FCP's are made to order at their factory and shipped to the building site. Because the FCP's are significantly lighter than wood SIP's purchasing locally to avoid shipping costs would be less of an issue. InnvoVida's US factory is in Miami Beach.

The video below is an animation of construction with the InnoVida FCP. If you've ever looked into construction using other kinds of SIP, this seems much simpler:



This video below documents the construction of a two storey flat roofed home in Dubai.



This video shows the construction of a demonstration house. What I like about it is the way the FCP's are used to make shelves, cabinets and other built ins.

Chinese made drywall blamed for numerous problems in conventionally built homes. Too bad they didn't try MgO instead

The October 7, 2009  New York Times has a story on homeowners including the lieutenant governor of Florida suing over problems they say were caused by Chinese made drywall.

The drywall is said to have abnormally high concentrations of sulfur.

Members of San Antonio Sustainable Living were told last year by George Swanson that while the USA had large deposits of gypsum, China did not. He said that instead the Chinese had developed wall board made with Magnesium Oxide (MgO). This MgO board uses relatively little energy to produce and absorbs CO2.

Ironically, rather than risk purchasing MgO board from China, many US builders went for familiar gypsum drywall from unfamiliar manufacturers in a country without a long history in its manufacturer and without the abundant gypsum supplies that made it a mainstay of US conventional building.

Now homeowners, builders and insurance companies are faced with a long and difficult process of resolving the difficulties caused by builders innovating as to the source of their building materials without innovating by purchasing the superior product (MgO) which the Chinese have developed.

Machine to produce wall length Compressed Earth Blocks in development by Earthco Building Systems of Ranger, Texas

As Larry Williamson sees it the problem with compressed earth blocks is that they are too small. They are so small that they have to be laid by hand. Laying by hand means hiring laborers and hiring laborers means liability. It also slows down the process of building.

So, several years ago he began working on a machine that would produce compressed earth blocks that would be large enough to place by machine, blocks so large that a single one could run the length of a wall. He received patent number 7311865 for a Block Ramming Machine on Christmas Day 2007. He has numerous other patents for his machine pending.

His prototype machine produces blocks that are 12 inches high, 18 inches thick with a length as long as you want. It takes 15 minutes to produce a block that is ten feet long. His next machine will produce two blocks in that time by putting otherwise idle hydraulic fluid to use in a second compression chamber.

Mr. Williamson, like Lawrence Jetter of AECT, is an advocate of placing unstablized blocks directly into walls and allowing them to cure within the wall, though his machine can also produce lime or portland stabilized blocks. By taking the blocks directly from the machine to their final resting places in the wall a structure can be dried-in extremely quickly. Placing a block takes one and a half minutes. Once it is placed, measurements can be taken to determine the length of the next block to be produced.

The machine extrudes compressed earth blocks in four inch increments. The blocks can be trimmed as needed. He says that when the blocks come out of the machine they are somewhat flexible like PVC pipe, but his lifting and carrying devices move them safely without damaging them and allow precise placement of the blocks which weigh well over a ton.

In developing his machine he has been assisted by students and staff from the Texas Tech Department of Engineering. He hopes that major manufacturers of earth moving equipment will license his designs and produce machines that can then be leased to builders. Since the walls can be created quickly, the heavy equipment is only needed a short time at each building site.

The machines were used to build an environmental center at Rio Blanco Girl Scout Camp in Crosbyton, Texas and Williamson is fielding inquiries from builders and non-profits interested in experimenting with his technology.

In the video below Larry Williamson demonstrates the machine and talks about uses for the blocks in highway construction.

Can a Mooney Wall save you lots of Money? It can certainly prevent heating and cooling losses due to thermal bridging

Here's the sort of creative solution that carpenters can come up with when they set their minds to it.

A Mooney wall (created by Mike Smith and Tim Mooney and introduced to the world on Tauton Press's "Breaktime" discussion forum) is intended to upgrade 2 x 4 stick construction by reducing energy loss due to thermal bridging. Instead of attaching drywall directly to the studs which creates a thermal bridge all along the stud, drywall is attached to 1 by 2 strapping that is attached to the studs thereby reducing the thermal bridging by 80% or more.

For pictures and a more complete description go to builditsolar.com's Mooney Wall article, or look for the discussion on Tauton Press's Breaktime.

Sourabh Phadke's booklet is a great introduction to earthbag construction (and it is free and legal to download)

Earthbag construction which uses earth or an adobe mix packed into bags and connected by strands of barbed wire between courses was developed by architect Nader Khalili, who first suggested it as a method of building on the moon. It was quickly found to be an excellent means by which refugees could construct their own housing.

Today, in the USA earthbags are widely used to make foundations for natural buildings, as well as for whole buildings. The leading proponents in the USA include Doni Kiffmeyer and Kaki Hunter. Check out their website and book, Earthbag Building, much of which can be read on google books.

But if you want to legally download and print out a guide to earthbag construction, then Sourabh Phadke's primer "Earthbags! also known as a manual in self help construction in using 'flexible rammed earth' " is the way to go. It is 33 pages and has enough detail to get you started. Mr. Phadke has been advocating natural and self help construction in western India for several years.

Below is a video of an earthbag project designed by Mr. Phadke called the Rocket and the Rabbithole:



Here is an Indian produced video showing the basics of building an earthbag dome.



For more videos of sustainable building and technology from India, check out the Antiismistix YouTube Channel.

Do you really want your home to last hundreds of years (or even fifty)? Open Building concepts can make it so.

A builder of stabilized compressed earth block buildings tells his students that such buildings will last 2000 years. A designer/builder trained in Europe notes that houses in Germany with 100 year mortgages are meant to last for centuries. Many green and natural builders strive to make homes that will stand for generations and look with dismay on the homes that dominate our cities and suburbs which have an estimated life span of perhaps fifty years or less.

But an element of home design that is almost always overlooked to one extent or another even by green builders is “Open Building” which is necessary to make a structure last and stay useful for one generation or several, hundreds of years or a millennium or two.

“Open Building” as it applies to single family homes means, in part, that the systems of the building are kept from tangling with each other and are easily accessible without destruction to other systems so that they can be replaced and reconfigured as they age, as the needs of the occupants change and as technology advances.

Even in green built buildings wire is buried inside walls. A metal conduit in an compressed earth block wall won’t last the 2000 years the wall may last. Water and waste pipes hidden are not likely to last 50 years.

“Open Building” has been applied for a number of years in large apartment blocks in countries around the world. As described by Stephen H. Kendall and Jonathan Teicher in “Residential Open Building” (available to many as an e-book through NetLibrary and in a limited form from Google book search), the word “support” means the support systems of the individual apartment: HVAC, Electrical, Water, Waste, Natural Gas. The word “infill” refers to finish-out of the individual apartment.

Tedd Benson, founder of Bensonwood Homes, a pioneer of residential open building for single family homes in the United States refers to the infill and support as “layers”. Layers include: Structure (the load bearing walls or framing), Skin (the siding, windows, roofing and insulation), the Space Plan (interior wall configuration and the size, number and use of rooms), Plumbing, HVAC, Electrical and Stuff (the furnishing). Some layers are longer lasting than others. Some need to be updated or repaired more frequently than others but no layer remains unchanged forever, nor is any layer likely not to need to be repaired.

In the USA we are most familiar with something similar to “Open Building” in commercial office buildings and retail centers in which the builder provides an enclosed space with access to the HVAC, adequate electrical lines and waste pipes and so forth while, the lessee hires contractors to finish out the space to their specifications. When a tenant leaves, the new tenant may retain all or part of the finish out, or they may strip down the space completely and start fresh.

Although a great deal of unsustainable waste is generated by this frequent reconfiguring and redecorating to suit the whims and egos of corporate officers, the fact that the spaces can be completely reconfigured without destruction of the entire building is an advantage in sustainability.

An “Open Building” commercial space goes far beyond the standard American commercial model though. “Open Building” buildings and spaces are designed so that each of the support systems could be replaced and updated without affecting the other systems. Without open building we see commercial building after commercial building razed and sent to the landfill, a process that is certainly not sustainable.

In “Open building” apartment blocks, the lessees or purchasers of the individual apartments are enabled to configure their apartment in ways that meet their needs and desires. This reduces alienation, improves the well being of residents and increases their ability to live as they choose rather than being locked into a master design. This process would particularly lend itself to American co-housing developments.

An “Open Building” single family home can serve for generations and in the vision of Stewart Brand, learn. When family needs change or when the neighborhood changes from suburban to urban, from residential to office and back again, the internal walls of the building can be reconfigured without affecting the integrity of the structure.

An “Open Building” building from 1860 (if there were such a building) though it were built in the days of oil lamps and coal or wood cooking would have seamlessly allowed for the introduction of gas lighting and cooking to be followed by knob and tube wiring to be followed (unfortunately) by aluminum wiring, which would in turn be replaced by romex, updated by various fire preventing code improvements and which will no doubt be replaced in coming decades by some other advance in technology.

Think of all the changes in HVAC and plumbing that have taken place in the last 150 years, and think of the expense involved in incorporating them into existing buildings. Even within the last 20 years our ideas about windows, electricity, ventilation, air conditioning, plumbing and the needed amounts of electricity of have changed substantially,

Yet how very difficult these improvements are to incorporate into our existing homes. How much expense beyond the new systems themselves goes into installing them in our homes whether the house is 50 years or 10 years old. In an “Open Building” home the expenses for renewing worn systems or updating obsolete ones are minimized.

Some aspects of open building for single family homes are simple to envision: accessible chases for water, HVAC and electricity and data so that each system can be replaced, repaired or altered. But other aspects of open building are more subtle.

Tedd Benson suggests “plug and play” electrical connections, crimped copper plumbing unions, quick connect manifold valves and compatible interchangeable house parts. He points out the advantages of timber framing (which his company uses) for open design, though the framing is only part of the open building design they follow.

You can learn more about open building at http://bensonwood.com/innovation/. There’s an excellent story from the October/November 2006 Fine Homebuilding entitled “Reinventing the House” by Andrew Dey. You may be able to find it on the web or if you subscribe to the magazine you can have access via Finehomebuilding.com.

Stewart Brand’s book, How Buildings Learn, served as an inspiration to Tedd Benson and convincingly shows that houses are not static structures. Mr Brand did a BBC Series based on his book and has now made it viewable on Google Video.

Though its subject is open built mass residential housing, Residential Open Building by Stephen Kendall and Jonathan Teicher has valuable background on the bigger picture and philosophy of open building.

Bensonwood Homes’ white paper “What is Open Building” may be found on their site and downloaded. It makes the case for open building and shows they have registered "Open-Built" as a servicemark which is why the less attractive term “Open Building” has been used throughout this essay. Open-building.org has a number of resources available, though their emphasis is mass housing development rather than single family homes.

Perhaps in the future sustainable open building will be the norm, reconfiguring and updating our support systems will be simple and our homes can last (with periodic renewals) for centuries. But for now it is up to the individual contractor, designer, architect and homeowners to seek out information on open building and advocate that the evolving concepts of it be incorporated into the structures, much as they have made the case for other aspects of green and sustainable construction.

Below is part 1 of Stewart Brand's BBC program, "How Buildings Learn" directed by James Muncie with music by Brian Eno.

Green building advantages of Timber Framing available to San Antonio through Bergheim Sand Creek Post and Beam dealer

Timber framed buildings have many green building advantages. They are proven, having been the primary form of wood construction for centuries and they stand up for centuries too. There's lots of open space and the space between the posts can be well insulated without concern for bearing loads since the posts and beams do that.

Since the frame is separate from the siding and insulation, both can be replaced as the building matures while the frame stays in place. To top it off, the interior space can be rearranged as well to meet changing needs.

Stan Hegener of Sand Creek Post and Beam of Texas up in Bergheim is a Texas dealer for Sand Creek Post and Beam of Wayne, Nebraska. In Bergheim Stan occupies a visually stunning timber frame barn/office. From there he sells timber frame barn and carriage house kits. Some 35 Sand Creek barn kits have been sold and built in Texas, including a barn workshop for the Kavanaugh ranch on Rebecca Creek near Spring Branch.

Nationwide, the parent company has sold over 250 kits in 43 states since their founding five years ago. The vast majority of their customers are looking for a traditional barn but they are also popular as commercial spaces for craft businesses who want something brand new but timeless.

The lumber is cut primarily from marked ponderosa pine in the Black Hills of South Dakota and never from clear cuts. For sill plates they use eastern red cedar. The lumber is full dimensional. The 6 by 6's are a full 6 inches by 6 inches. They never use treated wood, osb or plywood.

The interior of the barns are entirely timber framed without joist hangers but for simplicity's sake the metal plates are used instead of mortise and tenons for joining the beams.

Len Dickinson, co-owner of Sand Creek, has recognized the popularity of timber framing for straw bale enthusiasts and has sold several frames which were in-filled with bales.

Texas Timber Frames on Camp Bullis Road in far north San Antonio is a related company run by Len's son, Jack Dickinson.

Come to an Old Fashion Barn Raising July 9-11 in Boerne

Well it may not be completely old-fashioned but in this day and age it is close enough. Land Design is hosting an Old Fashioned Barn Raising in collaboration with Texas Timber Frames.

The barn is being raised at 209 Red Oak Rd, Boerne TX. The hosts will be there from 10am-6pm Thursday, July 9 through Saturday, July 11. Food and drink will be provided.

Timber Framing lends itself to many forms of green building by allowing infill with many different materials. It is also a mainstay of the residential open building methodology.

Below is a video virtual tour of Texas Timber Frame's Eden house plan.

The practically fireproof, soundproof, insect proof, hurricane proof, largely recycled building system you may never have heard of: SCIP's

Of course had you attended the March meeting of the San Antonio Sustainable Living group you would have heard all about SCIP's from Herb Nordmeyer.

At our meeting Herb showed us pictures of one Galveston home, raised up on piers that still stood practically untouched while all the houses had been destroyed by Hurricane Ike. That one home had a floor, roof and walls made of SCIP's (Structural Concrete Insulated Panels). A handrail was destroyed and exposed pipes underneath had to be replaced but otherwise the home was intact. Its survival was not due to chance.

Herb Nordmeyer knows concrete. He has spent his life learning the intricacies of pozzolans, additives which affect the properties of a particular batch of concrete. Fly ash is a pozzolan and Herb is one of the few who really understands its use. But since Hurricane Ike he has worked to educate code officials, homeowner groups and city officials understand that SCIP's are an economic building system that can prevent the kind of destruction caused not just by hurricanes but by the annual brush fires which plague California.

A SCIP may be thought of a SIP (Structural Insulated Panel) that uses concrete instead of a wood on the outside of an insulated panel.

There are many variations, some like wood SIP's are manufactured and cut to size in a factory, some have cement backer board attached to them, but Herb spoke to us primarily about the the MetRockSCIP style.

These have a polystyrene core surrounded by a 3 D cage of rebar and clips which suspend the metal. The foam panels can be made to size on site. Once raised into place the metal is covered with cement stucco. Some designs allow the stucco to be pumped on, while others require troweling. When the interior and exterior stucco cures it provides the vertical and horizontal load-bearing that is provided by a sheet of plywood or OSB in a SIP.

Because they have no wood, they are not vulnerable to termites. If SCIP's are used for the walls, floors and roof then the resulting building will be fireproof for all practical purposes. The walls perform at an equivalent R-40 with a sound rating (STC) of 50 or more, (even the floors). The buildings are inherently windstorm and hurricane proof and can easily be made earthquake proof.

The metal and polystyrene in a SCIP can be from recycled sources and the concrete can include up to 50% fly ash (if correctly formulated by a fly ash expert such as Herb Nordmeyer).

Costs are similar to 2 x 6 construction when built by a trained crew. Though "skilled labor" is not needed, experienced labor is required for the work to go a quickly as possible. Framers and drywallers are not needed though typically the interior and exterior is finished by a plasterer.

Manufacturers include MetRock, Solarcrete, Green Sandwich, SIPCrete and ProTec.

Stephen Colley's presentation on Adobe, Mason Greenstar papercrete and clay finishes as filmed by OrganicTexas posted to YouTube

Jason of OrganicTexas brought his camera and crew to the June meeting of San Antonio Sustainable Living at Whole Foods. The resulting video, divided in to YouTube compliant lengths has been posted to the web.

Architect Stephen Colley, AIA talked to the group about adobe construction, clay finishes and building with Mason Greenstar papercrete blocks among other things.

If you follow the OrganicTexas link to the San Antonio Sustainable Living playlist you can play all of the segments in order.

Locally manufactured SIPs from EH Systems in New Braunfels make choosing this green building option easier

EH Systems manufactures SIPS (Structural Insulated Panels) conveniently nearby in New Braunfels.

SIPS have been used for decades, both as infill between framing and as load-bearing panels in structures built without other framing. In a SIP, two solid panels are separated by lighter weight insulating material, to which the panels are attached.

SIPS vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. The outer skin can be made of plywood, osb, metal or concrete among other materials. Today the insulating material is usually polystyrene but a number of other materials have been used over the years. Different adhesives are used and advocated by various manufacturers. Although in general the panels are assembled on site in similar ways, each manufacturer adds their own design touches intended to make the panels easier to install, more resistant to insects, sturdier, lower in objectionable substances or more convenient to run wiring through.

When you build with SIPs the house plan is almost without exception required to be in the computer. The manufacturer uses the CAD data to machine cut the needed panels. Typically SIPs are only used for the exterior of a structure with conventional frame walls being used on the inside. The exterior of a SIPs structure is covered with conventional siding, stone, brick or stucco.

EH Systems manufactures SIPs from 4 foot wide to 9 feet wide. The panels can be up to 32 feet high. The larger panels are used for institutional customers such as schools and industrial facilities. The smaller panels are used for single family homes.

They also manufacture roof panels. Many SIPs designs feature cathedral ceilings. When combined with SIPS floor panels in the attic, a homeowner can gain relatively comfortable unconditioned storage space.

There are many home plans designed specifically for use with SIPs. But EH Systems like many manufacturers has staff and a CAD (computer aided design) system to convert plans to a SIPs layout. They offer hands on training to whole companies, superintendents and framers. An on-site builder services representative is also available to participants in their Preferred Builder program.

EH Systems is a member of Build San Antonio Green and since they manufacture locally, their products can provide valuable LEED credits.

San Antonio builder Sierleja constructs solid, well insulated green residences and commercial spaces with BuildBlock insulating concrete forms

Steve Sierleja, builder, distributor and member of San Antonio Sustainable Living has built for thirty years, starting in Pennsylvania with log and post/beam structures and continuing in our area with Faswall, durawall and Quad-Lock.

Now he distributes and builds with BuildBlock, an ICF (insulated concrete form) block manufactured in Bastrop, Texas. (Being locally made in Bastrop earns big LEED credits.)

An insulated concrete form consists of two connected walls of closed cell polystyrene. The blocks are dry stacked and concrete is pumped into the void. Block manufacturers compete based on their innovative variations on the connectors, in the profile of the block and in the size and configuration of the block. ICFs are not a generic product.

After the concrete is poured, standard exterior and interior siding as would be used in stick construction is applied. To run wiring, a hot knife is run in the polystyrene. The wiring is placed in the cut and then spray foam is used to cover it. Plumbing lines can be placed the same way, though they are generally routed through interior walls.

A typical ICF wall has a true R rating of 20 but the effective R rating is 50. There is no infiltration of air. By their nature the buildings hold up well in windstorms. The risk of fire is substantially reduced and property insurance costs are often 30 to 40% lower. Typically they only require one ton of air-conditioning per 1000 to 1200 sq feet.

BuildBlock uses recycled plastic webs to connect the polystyrene which is more durable than metal and which provides easier useful attachment points. They are completely reversable, which makes for more flexible stacking.

BuildBlock corner blocks have one side longer than the other. As any mason knows you want to avoid lining up vertical joints. By stacking a long side on top of short side this is prevented, making for much stronger corners.

Steve has managed to place BuildBlocks in the Lowes at the Rim in San Antonio, in Shertz, Pearland and Pasadena. Just go to the commerical sales desk and they will help you get started.

Steve's contracting company, Custom Homes Ltd, has several projects going including a home near Medina Lake. In December 2008, his commercial operation stacked and poured the new additon to the Wheatsville Co-op in Austin.

Report 2 from Tierra y Cal Compressed Earth Block workshop: Four reasons to make CEB a favored building system in San Antonio

There are lots of building systems available in San Antonio, all have their advantages and disadvantages, here are some reasons for the city to embrace the compressed earth block.

1. The Cadillac of compressed earth block machines is made right here by Advanced Earthen Construction Technology, within the city limits on Hwy 181. The technical expertise is right here. The potential manufacturing jobs are right here as well.

2. Compressed earth blocks require sand and clay. Our position at the intersection of several geologic zones puts both clay and sand nearby. Furthermore the types of sand and clay needed for the blocks are not particularly valuable and are more of a nuisance and by-product to the production of more valuable sand and gravel.

3. To stabilize a block so that it can withstand the direct effects of water and to allow it to breathe, lime is needed. Lime produced as a waste product from coal fired electric plants and acetylene production works just fine. We have both near San Antonio.

4. A breathable stabilized compressed earth block home plastered with exterior lime plaster reflects the sun's energy and cools itself by the phase change effect as documented by John J. Morony. This reduces the need for air-conditioning substantially. It is particularly appropriate for our climate and can be designed with a nod to our Spanish design heritage.

City of San Antonio 2009 Green Building Award winners include Imagine Homes and LionForce Building Systems

Winner's of San Antonio's first Green Building awards include LionForce Building Systems who presented at the San Antonio Sustainable Living's September meeting and Imagine Homes who was featured in a post April 11.

Imagine Homes won in the Residential Production Home category while LionForce won in the Residential Custom Home under 2200 sq feet category.

LionForce uses a proprietary wall and ceiling system somewhat similar to the STEP panels featured in our April 10, 2009 post in that they combine polystyrene for insulation with load bearing steel framing.

The award for Residential Custom Home over 2200 sq feet went to Kyle Lindsey Custom Homes, a participant in the 2007 and 2008 Parade of Homes. Their homes feature blown insulation, foam insulation and well ventilated attics.

Compressed Earth Block, Lime Plaster and More Three Day Workshop in San Antonio June 11, 12 & 13

Lawrence Jetter and the AECT compressed earth block machine factory have long been a favorite field trip destination of our group. Now comes a three day workshop by Solar Adobe School and Tierra y Cal at the factory.

From adobebuilder.com:

COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCK, LIME AND MORE
June 11, 12 & 13, 2009 (Thur-Fri-Sat)
AECT Factory in San Antonio, Texas
Tierra y Cal
is pleased to invite you to participate in our
Three Day Workshop in San Antonio, Texas for Compressed Earth Block Construction, Lime Stabilization and Natural Plasters
June 11, 12, and 13, 2009
(Thu.-Fri.-Sat.) Location: AECT Factory in San Antonio, Texas

Two earth building companies and their personnel are pooling their talents to bring you this class. From Texas, Lawrence Jetter and crew of Advanced Earthen Construction Technologies bring their knowledge of pressing machinery. From San Miguel de Allende, México, Jim Hallock, Mónica Healy and Jeff Rottler of Tierra y Cal, Proyectos Sustentables, bring their knowledge of lime stabilization in combination with compressed earth block construction. Students who persevere through all of the sessions to dinner on Saturday will receive a Certificate of Completion. Class cost includes an Earth Block Construction manual.
Lawrence Jetter of AECT with one of his machines

Schedule
Thursday, June 11, 2009
8:00am - 8:15am - In the Classroom - Coffee and Introductions

8:15am - 11:45am - How to Build a Compressed Earth Block (CEB) Building - Foundation through Bond Beam. The partners of Tierra y Cal present the step-by-step sequence using the manual you will have received.

11:45am - 1:00pm - Lunch break

1:00pm - 4:45pm - Soil selection and block manufacturing with Lawrence Jetter and lime stabilization with Tierra y Cal. You will have the opportunity to press and test some blocks (bring 5 gallons of your dirt if you wish), and help to operate a pressing machine.

Friday, June 12 , 2009

San Miguel8:00am - 11:45am - Hands-on construction of a small Compressed Earth Block building. The class will learn to build a wall to the speed lead and string and construct an arch using blocks pressed on the site. We’ll place door and window bucks and set in an electrical circuit with a few plug boxes as we build the wall.

11:45am- 1:15pm - Lunch Break

1:15pm - 4:45pm - Construction continues

Saturday, June 13 , 2009

8:00am - 11:45am - We are again at AECT’s facility with a focus on lime and clay plasters.

11:45am- 1:15pm - Lunch Break

1:15pm - 3:00pm - Plaster continues

3:00pm - 4:45pm - Q and A

7:00pm - ?? - Meet for Dinner, Certificates of Completion handed out.

Class limit: 35 students
Cost: $295.00 for one person, $275.00/person for two or more registering together and providing one payment. A discount of $20.00/person will be given for early registration, prior to May 15. Refunds (minus $30.00 administration fee) will be given for cancellations prior to June 1.

This class will be conducted in English only.

The class will close when filled. Please register early to preserve your place. The first payments to clear will be registered and the attendee notified.

To register: Contact Monica Healy for the easy instructions at monicahealy@tierraycal.com

San Antonio's compressed earth block machine manufacturer AECT

Advanced Earthen Construction Technology (AECT) has been making their compressed earth block machines in southeast San Antonio for over a decade.

The large capacity AECT 5000 is self-contained. It can be and has been used all over the world, at times far from any other source of power. Over the years it has been purchased and used by large institutional builders such as American Indian tribes and governments in the republics of the former Soviet Union. John W. Wright's patent 4640671 and patent 4557681 which Mr Wright shared with Jack L. Elkins are used in its design. Its hopper is typically filled by a full size front end loader.

The AECT 3000 is designed for the medium size contractor. It is a different design from the AECT 5000, though it produces the same size blocks. It is manufactured under the patent of David Lienau 5629033 . It weighs just under 5000 pounds as compared to 9800 pounds for its big brother. It can be loaded by a bobcat or tractor.



The AECT Impact 2001 is the machine for the small contractor or home owner. It is loaded by shovel or bucket. Usually it is set to produce 5 1/2 x 12 x 4.5 inch blocks as opposed to the 10 x 14 x 3.5 inch blocks produced by the larger machines. It is small enough to be hauled by a compact car.

The company also now manufactures a soil mixing machine to ease the process of preparing soil for the block presses.

Contact the factory at (210) 633-3224 or by email to arrange a operational demonstration.

Follow the contruction of a West Texas papercrete castle

A papercrete building doesn't just just spring to life. It takes plenty of work. The blog Puerto Viejo to Big Bend by Noble Baker and Alaine Berg documents the work being done to build their "joint" in Marathon, Texas with a papercrete arched shower, more papercrete domes, walls and arches.

They are making regular entries so you will be able to follow their progress. Even more important they are logging their hours so you can see just long it takes for a hand built house.

Bed, Breakfast and Papercrete in Marathon, Texas

How do you experience living in a home built with sustainable materials without building your own? One way is to stay at one of a growing number of green B&B's.

In Marathon, Texas a short 30 minute drive from the Amtrak station in Alpine and 2 1/2 hours from the airport in Midland Eve's Garden Bed and Breakfast features papercrete domes and arches.

Eve’s Garden is an organic bed and breakfast which features an organic garden and locally produced food. The buildings themselves feature recycled content, papercrete and strawbale construction.

Rooms rent for between $195 and $155 per night.

Steel Thermal Efficient Wall Panels (STEP) combine foam insulation with steel framing

Steel framing is recyclable and with proper insulation it poses no problem for thermal bridging. Foam panels make great insulation but of course they are not load bearing.

A number of companies have combined steel framing with foam insulation in various forms. One such company is Accelerated Building Technologies of Pennsylvania. Their product embeds cold rolled steel framing into extruded polystyrene. They call it Steel Thermal Efficient Wall Panels (STEP).

The steel framing extends to the inside of the foam leaving a cavity for mechanical systems, plumbing and electric in accordance with open design principles. Drywall can be attached on the inside surface.


The system lends itself to conventional style buildings, though there are some design principles to keep in mind, such as avoiding sloping load bearing walls and wall lengths of less than 3 feet.

Bill Loftus' Environmental Building Technology block uses recycled wood, styrofoam and cement to make a house that even children can help build.

At SASL over the years we have heard talks on many concrete reinforced wall systems. Here is one that hasn't made it to our meeting and one that is very difficult to find using Google.

Bill Loftus of Environmental Building Technology states that anyone with very little training even children can help build using their blocks which weigh less than 9 pounds each (about the same as a gallon of milk).

This video shows children constructing a demonstration building.


Their mortarless blocks, reinforced by concrete and rebar produce a finished wall with an r value of 12. The blocks include recycled polystyrene and wood chips and accept screws and nails.

Because the walls are built in stages and the spaces for the concrete only connect vertically, the reinforcing concrete can be poured in small batches without the need for the big pour typical of many concrete reinforced systems.

You can learn more about the system by clicking on "Guided Tour" on the main page of their website.

Mr. Loftus has hopes that the system can be used to ease housing shortages in developing nations. In the video you can see recycled styrofoam and waste tree limbs being ground up and mixed with concrete, then hand poured into forms and houses built in the Tampa Bay area using the blocks.