For Real, Our ACTUAL Green Dream Home

In a couple of previous posts, I declared that I had found my new “green” home. First was the earthship, then the monolithic dome. But Jerry and I wanted something that could be built faster than an earthship, and with more sustainable materials than the monolithic dome.

Enter the earthbag house.

What is an earthbag house?

Would you believe that no one I know has heard of an earthbag house until I tell them about it? The result is a home with insulative properties as good as an earthship, but it takes much less time – although still a good bit of time and labor – to build. The outside walls, and sometimes the roof and inside walls, are made of large polypropylene or burlap sacks (the burlap is subject to rot, though) filled with dirt. The bags are laid horizontally, and each new layer is attached to the layer below with barbed wire. You leave holes wherever you want windows and doors, and at the end the whole thing is covered in plaster.

If you want to build one yourself, you can go to a workshop and learn how. You can build your own home for just a few thousand dollars that way.

Even if you get a couple of friends to help, however, it will take several months working all day every day to build anything bigger than a “tiny house”. Because we have an almost six-year-old child who will be coming up on seven next summer, when we want our house built, we need more space than a tiny house and will not have the luxury to take several months to do it ourselves.

Who builds earthbag houses?

Late last year, I went to Paul Wheaton’s permies forum, and asked if anybody knew anybody who built earthbag houses anywhere in the southern U.S. Scott from earthenhand.com replied. This spring, we talked to him on the phone. Here are some questions we asked, and how he answered.

• How much will it cost? Between $100 and $200 per square foot. While the materials are very cheap, there is much more labor involved so to pay a crew you end up paying about as much for an earthbag house as for a custom-built conventional home.
• Can you do rocket mass heaters and graywater systems? We work with people who do.
• How long do you need to know in advance? At least three months; longer is better.
• Can you work with the basic design we have in mind? Yes, and the more details you give us, the less it will cost us to come up with the final product.
• When do you build? We build earthbag houses in the summer. (He didn’t say why, but I presume they prefer to work during the driest season, for obvious reasons.)