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Title: Intresting Building Idea From S Africa
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Published: May 7, 2008
Author: http://www.ecobuildtechnologies.com/inde
Post Date: 2008-05-07 18:15:18 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 400
Comments: 17
http://www.ecobuildtechnologies.com/index.htm Uses sandbags as the main material for building - the bulk of the material is dug from the site.
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#7. To: tom007 (#0)
you see Tom, construction is my real profession. it is a very interesting way to build. At first I thought the sandbags were just an expensive insulation with no structural value. But the way it is configured the sandbags may well play a structural role. Because you see those vertical wood & steel components spaced 3-4 feet from each other are likely in themselves not strong enough to hold up a roof. If the sandbags are actually pressing against each component on both sides, then they're serving like a constant lateral brace all the way up & down. That would add a lot of structural strength to the vertical wood & steel components. So, I don't know if the sandbags are structural or not. at first I assumed they'd put some sort of sheathing on the outside of the building and screw it into the wood & steel vertical components and that this would beef up the structure tremendously. But those sandbags are sticking out beyond the wood on the outside, so I don't know. Maybe they'll just spread a stucco or adobe type mixture on the outside of the building to finish it. Those sandbags would make a great lath. I've long thought that compacted soil can be a great building component. The soil itself has great compressive strength, and then if you use post-tension steel or other steel to provide the tension to hold it together, I bet it could work. The sandbag uses that same concept with the sand providing the compressive strength and the bag providing the tension. Believe me Tom we can build buildings a lot less expensively than what typically happens. Anyone who tries to innovate in the construction industry frequently gets squashed. Some innovations have come along the last 30 years, not many though. In the construction industry our productivity growth rate numbers are frequently negative, not positive.
I knew that, and your post is prophetic. I have been in "earthships" around NM, that use old tires and compacted site dirt to form three foot thick walls for the structures, and the effect from the four or five I have been in was nice, With that kind of insulation the internal temps hardly vary from day to night. I suppose it is a above ground cave. Then there is the lunacy of me, in Colorado, for seven months at least, I pay to run a refrigator in my house while I pay to heat the house while their is massive lack of heat two feet away. We can be smarter than this.
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#8. To: Red Jones (#7)
you see Tom, construction is my real profession.
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