permaculture

[<scott@permaculture.org>]

All of the "new" building technology is actually centuries old, except for 
building with tires.  Most all of them have a very good reason for use, 
depending on the climatic conditions of where one wants to build.  Strawbale 
is not called for in a humid tropical climate it is a waste of resources and 
energy.  Strawbale makes excellent sense in the temperate steppes  around the 
world, certainly much more sensible than the petroleum based "super" 
insulation.  Wattle and daub is a perfect building technique for humid 
tropics and has been since man moved out of the caves and into self 
constructed homes.

The main thing is, is it appropriate to the region, are materials readily 
available, and is it non-toxic.  Any time one can skip the industrial process 
in building one is saving money, damage to the environment, and using ones 
head.

I have always looked at tire structures, or earthships for the sensitive 
types, as a novelty technisque developed by an incredible narcissistic 
architect following in the tradition of the dirt in a bag school or "super 
adobe".  In the first place these techniques are far from the do it yourself 
bargains they are touted to be and in the second place in the case of tire 
houses one is encasing oneself is a product that out gasses radioactive gases 
left over from the curing processes of vulcanization.  The only place I would 
use tires is as a way to stabilize steep slopes cheaply.  

If it is appropriate one should always incorporate dirt and vegetation from 
the place where one is building.  I have seen adobe structures all over the 
world because the material is basically free if one has the place on which to 
use it.  Cobb is another building technique using the earth and vegetation of 
place to create inexpensive homes they are all over the British Isles, and 
much of the coastal regions of Europe.

All of the techniques are named from the materials used for wall construction 
which only represents around 20% of the total building costs so the most one 
can save is 20% and that is if you don't count labor. 

>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: scrooge McDuck <declan@planetmail.net>
>  To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
>  Subject: Re: [permaculture] Earthships
>  Sent: Jul 26 '16 14:45
>  
>  Please do. With my world view, fresh ideas are always welcome. I never
>  saw the benefit of straw bale. How long is that going to last? Ditto
>  whittle or beer can walls.
>  --
>  Sent from my Android phone with mail.com Mail. Location Dublin
>  Ireland.
>  On 26/07/2016, 20:44 Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com> wrote:
>  
>  > On Tue, Jul 26, 2016 at 3:31 PM, scrooge McDuck
>  > <declan@planetmail.net>
>  > wrote:
>  >
>  >> So nobody on this list has one? I thought there would be several.
>  > Surely
>  >> Earthships dovetail with Permaculture?
>  >
>  > Its straw bale, wattle and daub, cob, etc. I would live in a tent
>  > before
>  > wasting my time and money on any of this tech-NO-logy.
>  > The Earthships have been around for a long time and are very neat,
>  > very
>  > stylized, some of them, at the expense of real functionality, cost
>  > and
>  > maintenence; they lack attention to detail, especially merging
>  > surfaces and
>  > contours and overall year round temperature moderation and many of
>  > them are
>  > way too big.
>  >
>  > My take on this is:
>  >
>  > build small, exactly what space you must have
>  > use extremely durable materials
>  > use easy or no maintenance materials
>  > use super insulation for year round comfort
>  > use thermal heat storage in winter (the floor and walls (interior)
>  > that
>  > serve to keep living space cool in summer combined with appropriate
>  > roof
>  > overhangs
>  >
>  > this really works
>  > I can provide details on materials and building techniques if
>  > anyone is
>  > interested; will post to the list.
>  >
>  > LL
>  > --
>  > Lawrence F. London
>  > lfljvenaura@gmail.com
>  > https://sites.google.com/site/avantgeared
>  >
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