Better Building with Earthen Buildings

The 2015 Great NEWS posts enjoy sharing Healthy Habitats to better support all aspects of our life. Today’s post is on my recent Dwell Earth gateway training focused on Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB). My goal is to offer a brief overview and summary that will peak your interest and entice you to go to their website to learn more about the many advantages of building buildings and homes using compressed stabilized earth block. Most people are fairly familiar with bricks and sticks houses, concrete cinder block houses and prefabricated houses. The vast majority of these are inferior to a well built CSEB house. Very few people are familiar with the use of earthen building materials to make durable and long lasting homes. This post will share some of my recent discoveries regarding earthen building and in particular the Dwell Earth training that revealed the many benefits of using compressed stabilized earth block to build better houses that also help support our health and wellness.

If, after reading this short blog, you get curious about building a house using local soil consisting of clay, sand and less than ten percent cement or lime, go to the Dwell Earth website and we both win. You will expand your intelligence regarding this fantastic building method and share it with others. As mentioned in previous blog posts there are many natural building methods that are more ecological and energy efficient than the conventional bricks, dry wall and sticks or more often particle board, siding and sticks that most modern dwellings are made with.

Earthen building methods have evolved greatly from the early adobe methods to offer a variety of complex solutions, strategies, structures and systems to create a wide variety of buildings and homes to meet your specific dreams and goals.

Earthen building methods have evolved greatly from the early adobe methods to offer a variety of complex solutions, strategies, structures and systems to create a wide variety of buildings and homes to meet your specific dreams and goals. This enables us to create beautiful and creative home designs that are more eco friendly and energy efficient than the modern dwellings that are thrown up quickly and made to look pretty but in reality are poorly designed for sustainability which results in energy and maintenance money pits that drain our finances.

Disadvantages of most modern homes include:

• Poorly designed structures that fail to maximize natural shade and sun orientation.
• Particle and pressed board that contains numerous harmful chemicals.
• Insulation that may be harmful to your health.
• Dark composite roofing material that excessively expensive and hot.
• Extensive use of inefficient central air conditioning.
• Extensive use of inefficient central heating.
• Excessive use of compounds, paints, and varnishes that have a high VOC content and are prone to off gasing these over time.
• Houses that require excessive maintenance and repair.
• House designs that require excessive energy usage for climate control and electric appliances.
• Low quality materials that may last the length of the 10 year warranty then break down rapidly.
• Excessive use of drywall which can become wet and promotes mildew and mold growth.
• Bathrooms that often leak and tile work that allows mildew and mold growth.
• Excessively large bedrooms and other rooms that waste energy and space.
• Fire places that are very inefficient and actually lose heat up the chimney.
• Foundations that are improperly designed, poured and cured which result in cracked foundations.
• Plumbing that is poorly designed  and requires excessive piping and wastes large amounts of water delivering hot water to a faucet.
• Out dated gas or electric hot water heaters that run 24/7 keeping water hot which waste expensive energy.
• Poorly designed and excessive electrical wiring throughout the house which exposes residents to excessive electromagnetic frequencies EMF.
• Kitchens with an excessive amount of appliances and gadgets.
• Energy inefficient walls and windows that allow excessive cold or warm air leakages.
• Lack of adequate quality air ventilation.
• Two-story houses that are inefficiently designed and result in a constant energy and heating imbalance between the upstairs and downstairs.
• Excessive lighting and fixtures that are poorly located. Many use compact fluorescent lights CFL which contain mercury.
• Bathrooms that contain oversized whirlpool tubs and large oversized showers with excessively large shower heads referred to as rain showers which waste a lot of water.
• Central hot water heaters that attempt to delivered hot water to many different parts of the house wasting an excessive amount of energy and grey water before the hot water can be delivered.
• Houses built with excessive lumber , plywood and particle board and other flammable material that create unnecessary fire hazards. Also invites insect damage.
• Large attics and other spaces that heat up underneath the composite shingles causing major energy efficiencies.
• The use of dark composite shingles or dark bricks which tend to heat up excessively transferring that heat inside the house causing greater energy needs.
• Many of the materials are manufactured great distances from the building site which results in excessive energy use to manufacture the materials as well as deliver them to the construction site.
• Numerous health issues from unnatural building materials.

Learning about earthen construction requires a basic understanding of current building methods and techniques so you can compare the advantages and differences.

Benefits of Building with Earthen Block

Seeking a professional contractor and CSEB building specialist is key to understanding the importance of every aspect of CSEB architect, building, construction, design, electrical, exteriors, landscaping, maintaining, plumbing, repairing, sun positioning, sourcing materials and weather proofing.

Earthen block homes have a long list of reported advantages and benefits. The best way to educate yourself and experience the full benefits of  earthen building is to begin reading and researching articles and videos on CSEB. Researching the history of earthen building will help open your eyes to the extensive array of earthen construction and practical applications around the world.

Understanding specific earthen techniques may help you find the one style that best meets your needs. When learning about any new building style it is important to have an open mind and resourceful team to help you understand the cons and pros of different building methods. Seeking a professional contractor and CSEB building specialist is key to understanding the importance of every aspect of CSEB architect, building, construction, design, electrical, exteriors, landscaping, maintaining, plumbing, repairing, sun positioning, sourcing materials and weather proofing.

Advantages of Compressed Stabilized Earth Block :

• Use of local clay, gravel, sand, soil material and rocks for construction.
• Less energy required for the building, manufacturer and transportation of building materials for the house.
• More ecological construction due to local materials stabilized with less than 10% cement or line.
• Greater energy efficiency due to thermal mass.
• Awareness of design and orientation of house to capitalize on sun, temperature, weather and wind patterns.
• Thicker walls made with Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) can eliminate the need for most if not all wood in the walls of a house.
• CSEB can be waterproof, mold proof, fireproof, bug proof and storm proof.
• These homes can be built more quickly and more cost-efficiently using the local materials which replace more expensive and non local materials.
• The use of local clay, sand and soil enables people of all economic backgrounds to have a more eco-efficient and energy-efficient earthen home.
• CSEB homes require less heating and less cooling than conventional bricks, drywall and sticks homes.
• Properly cared for Earthen homes  can last much longer then conventional homes due to natural preservation properties.
• CSEB homes can be built by local communities with basic building skills.
• More people can afford earthen homes than conventional homes that require more complex architecture, electrical, plumbing and resources. Earthen homes can be designed and made to be much more cost effective and energy efficient in a wider range of climates and weather zones.
• Natural earthen homes act and look more natural due to natural building materials.

A well-designed earthen home is breathable and naturally cools and heats with minimal effort. Earthen homes are already prevalent throughout the world and approximately one third of the population lives in earthen built homes. With more people building earthen homes we can greatly reduce our CO2 and water footprint and reduce our fossil fuel energy needs.

Are you ready to learn a bit more about numerous benefits of earthen building? Simply go to Dwell Earth and open your mind to the many advantages earthen building and CSEB have to offer.   Imagine how great it will feel to cut your construction costs and energy bill way down as you build a more environmentally and energy efficient CSEB home. Earthen homes are being build around the world and are helping many people create better homes and will help you too.

Healthy Habits

The Healthy Habits 2015 series is dedicated to sharing simple suggestions to help improve our happiness, harmony, health and housing. This post encourages us to consider using CSEB to create better dwellings for our overall health and well being. Earthen block construction has a proven track record for helping to improve the efficiency and quality of our homes. Remember to consider that approximately one third of the world currently lives in earthen structures and many have been doing so for thousands of years. This Great NEWS post shared simple steps to begin learning about earthen building using CSEB to enhance our ecological, emotional and environmental health.

What is your current Gap?

Is your current apartment, house or mobile home causing you to spend too much on cooling and heating? Have you heard about using earthen building to enhance your health and home? Would you like a house that can last hundreds of years and be passed on to future generations for better and more cost efficient housing? CSEB are a great way to build better homes. Could building an earthen home be one of the best investments you ever make?

Mastery Action Plan (MAP)

Go to Dwell Earth to learn more about earthen construction and CSEB. Consider attending their gateway training or meeting with a CSEB professional to learn more the proven benefits of earthen building. This will help you expand you construction wisdom as you gain valuable insights regarding the many benefits of using CSEB. Dwell Earth has lots of great education and information regarding earthen construction.

Call to Action

What comments, commitments or concerns come to mind regarding the benefits of earthen construction and CSEB? What other ideas and inspiration will help motivate us towards better behaviors, beliefs and biology for a better 2015 and beyond?

Next week the Great NEWS blog will share:

Better in Belize

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