With just earth, a shovel, and a bag we can build a house. Earth bag building construction is one of the simplest, fastest and most sustainable of all eco-building techniques. It is also one of self-building’s most flexible, for you can build self-supporting walls (square, round, etc) and retaining walls. It´s simplicity also makes it possible to build with the whole family.

Earthbag construction was developed as a solution for building in disaster areas where there is a growing demand for emergency shelter and a lack of creativity in finding solutions.
Of the many earth building techniques earth bag building is the most modern. It was invented in 1984 Iranian architect Nader Khalili in response to a competition held by NASA for moon buildings and has gained much recognition since, namely to do with its strength and earthquake resistance.

UPCOMING EARTH BAG BUILDING Project

Noosa Forest Retreat is running a building workshop which will cover the history and the contemporary practices in earth bag construction which we we will put into practice, step by step, as we build an outdoor kitchen, complete with arches and natural plasters. We will also see the Brazilian version of this technique known as `Hyper-Adobe´. see Earth Building; Noosa Forest Retreat.

Topics covered:

• Preparation of the area and materials required to start the job.
• Foundations for earthbag building
• Building with earthbags
• Tying of the layers
• Placement of doors and windows
• Earth Plasters
• Roof and grass roof options

Please email [email protected] to register your interest for our upcoming earth bag construction workshops beginning in June 2012.

Early bird discounts apply for course fees, pay before course date and receive 10% off.

Are you interested in a work exchange hepling with this project to exchange for accommodation and food? If so see our work exchange offer