Earthbag

construction

Earthbag construction is an inexpensive

building method using mostly local soil
to create structures which are both
strong and can be quickly built.

Earthbag development

Features
It is also natural building technique
developed from historic military bunker
construction techniques and temporary
flood-control dike building methods. The
technique requires very basic
construction materials: sturdy sacks
filled with organic material usually
available on site.

Standard earthbag fill material has

internal stability. Either moist subsoil that
contains enough clay to become
cohesive when tamped, or a water-
resistant angular gravel or crushed
volcanic rock is used. Walls are gradually
built up by laying the bags in courses—
forming a staggered pattern similar to
bricklaying.

The walls can be curved or straight,

domed with earth or topped with
conventional roofs. Curved walls provide
good lateral stability, forming round
rooms and/or domed ceilings like an
igloo.

Buildings with straight walls longer than

5 m (16.4 ft) in length need intersecting
walls or bracing buttresses. International
standards exist for bracing wall size and
spacing for earthen construction in
different types of seismic risk areas,
most notably the performance-based
standards of New Zealand[1]
recommended by the ASTM
International's earth building
standards.[2] Static shear testing shows
that earthbag can reach similar strengths
to New Zealand's reinforced adobe
standards with specific soil strengths
and reinforcement[3] although
unreinforced weak soil earthbag can
have lower shear strength than
unreinforced adobe.

To improve friction between bags and

wall tensile strength barbed wire is
usually placed between courses. Twine is
also sometimes wrapped around the
bags to tie one course to the next, to hold
in-progress structures together and keep
courses well-seated on barbed wire
prongs. Rebar can be hammered into
walls to strengthen corners and opening
edges and provide resistance against
overturning.

The structure is typically finished with

plaster, either cement stucco on a strong
mesh layer or an adobe or lime plaster, to
shed water and prevent fabric UV
damage. Finishes can differ from
protected interior applications to
exposed external applications.

This construction technique is one of the

most versatile natural building methods
and can be used for benches,
freestanding walls, emergency shelters,
temporary or permanent housing, or
barns and commercial buildings.
Earthbag is frequently chosen for many
small-to-medium-sized institutional
structures in the developing world.
Subgrade structures including
underground and bermed dwellings
(such as Earthships), cisterns, spring
boxes, root cellars, and retaining walls
can be built with stabilized soil fill or with
additional reinforcement and water-
resistant gravel or sand fill.

Writers
Although Joseph Kennedy probably
invented the term earthbag (as well as
contained earth), Paulina Wojciechowska
wrote the first book on the topic of
earthbag building in 2001, Building with
Earth: A Guide to Flexible-Form Earthbag
Construction. Kelly Hart developed a
massive online database of earthbag
information that encouraged idea
sharing. Kaki Hunter and Doni Kiffmeyer
worked on a variety of projects after
studying with Khalili, calling earthbag
"flexible form rammed earth". Their 2004
book, Earthbag Building: the Tools, Tricks
and Techniques, is available as an e-
book.[4]
Free online booklets have been
developed by different authors, including
Owen Geiger and Patti Stouter. These
include structural research and field
testing techniques developed for rural
areas.[5]

A 2011 e-book by Geiger, Earthbag

Building Guide: Vertical Walls Step-by-
Step, provides photo illustrations of the
process and discussions of new
techniques for low-risk areas.[6]

Proponents

Many like Akio Inoue, from Tenri

University in Japan and Scott Howard of
Earthen Hand have tested and built
buildings. Hart, with Geiger,[7]
encouraged earthbag's development into
different culturally and climatically-
appropriate shapes. Robert Shear built
an earthship inspired earthbag house in
Utah and Morgan Caraway of Sustainable
Life School is building a house that
incorporates earthship design principles
as well.

While Gernot Minke, the German

professor of earthen architecture, first
developed a technique of using bags
filled with pumice to build walls, architect
and builder Nader Khalili helped
reintroduce earthbag construction as a
modern technique called superadobe for
humanitarian efforts (particularly for
residential buildings) as well as natural
flood control.[8]

Dr. John Anderton of South Africa has

tested a triple channel bag version that
reduces the slumping problems inherent
in non-cohesive fill material like sand,[9]
and pioneered work in a narrow wall
contained sand system which he calls E-
khaya.

Fernando Pacheco of Brazil pioneered

the use of lighter HDPE mesh tubing for
simpler hyperadobe walls.[10]
Rebuilding after natural disasters and in
low-income regions around the world has
included earthbag. Although heavy
earthen walls are usually dangerous in
quakes, Nepal's spring 2015 earthquakes
left earthbag buildings in good condition
near destroyed buildings.

Engineer Nabil Taha developed the first

general specifications for one type of
exterior pinning reinforcement
appropriate for the highest seismic risk
zones.[11] Several engineering students
have tested uncured or low strength
earthbag, and Build Simple has tested
cured cohesive walls.[12] Organizations
building in Nepal are currently working
with engineers to improve and refine
reinforcement options for seismic-
resistant earthbag.

Construction method

2:15

Timelapse video of an earthbag building being made

Construction usually begins by digging a

trench to undisturbed mineral subsoil,
which is partially filled with stones
and/or gravel to create a rubble trench
foundation. In high seismic risk regions a
reinforced concrete footing or grade
beam may be recommended. Earthbag
buildings can also be built on
conventional concrete slabs (though this
is more expensive and uses more
embodied energy than a rubble trench
foundation) and can have a bermed or
underground "floating" foundation like an
earthship as well.

Several courses of gravel in doubled

woven bags form a water-resistant
foundation. Each layer usually has two
strands of barbed wire on top, that
attaches to the bag to prevent slippage
and resists any tendency for the outward
expansion of dome or rectangular walls.
Bags on the course above are offset by
200 mm (8 in)—half of the 450 mm
(18 in) wall width—similar to running
bond in masonry. Bags can either be pre-
filled with material and hoisted up, or
bags or tubes are filled in place. The
weight of the earthen fill locks the bag in
place on the barbed wire below. A light
tamping of the bags or tubes
consolidates the moist clay-containing
fill and creates interlocking bags or tubes
anchored on the barbed wire.

Container types

Solid-weave polypropylene is most

popular, available around the world to
transport rice or other grains.
Polypropylene is low cost and resists
water damage, rot, and insects. Tubes
are often available from manufacturers
who sew them into bags. Mesh tubes of
soft crocheted poly fibers are also used,
although stiff extruded mesh or woven
mesh bags can also be used.

Organic/natural materials such as hemp,

burlap (like "gunny sacks") can be used.
Since these may rot, they should only be
used with cohesive fills (containing a
significant proportion of clay) that form
solid masses when tamped.

Terminology
Types of contained earth

Earthbag is now a varied family of

techniques. Each type of fill and
container has different strength and
reinforcement requirements.

For hazardous locations, accurate

terminology is needed. Contained earth
(CE) is based on the original technique,
but with specific soil strengths and
reinforcement chosen for hazard levels.
CE uses damp, cohesive, tamped bag fill,
which bonds strongly with barbed wire
and other reinforcement as the wall
cures.

CE is not "sandbags". Contained sand

(CS) uses sand fill or any fill too dry or
with poor cohesion that performs
structurally like sandbags. CS must be
built with solid-weave fabric bags and
have good protection from fabric
damage, relying on the strength of the
bag fabric for wall strength.[13] CS needs
more vertical reinforcement for both
shear and out-of-plane strength than CE,
or may require a structural skin. Some
builders use narrow bags of contained
sand as wall infill.

Contained gravel (CG) uses fill of any

aggregate larger than coarse sand,
usually in doubled rice bags, although
strong mesh can be used. CG limits
dampness transmission from footings.

Modular CE is built in grain bags or

similar tubes. Walls rely on attachment
between barbed wire barbs and/ or
added pins between courses. Solid CE is
hyperadobe built in some type of knit
raschel mesh tube, so that the damp
earthen fill solidifies between courses.
Bag-fill materials

Generally inorganic material is used as

filler, but some organic material (such as
rice hulls) can be used if a strong matrix
like wire mesh reinforces the plaster.

Earthen fill may contain 5–50% clay, and

can be "reject fines", "road base",
"engineered fill", or local subsoil. "Raw" or
un-stabilized soils cure as solid units but
cannot withstand prolonged soaking.
Subsoils with clay mold tightly and
attach well to barbed wire prongs and
rebar.

Soil fill can contain a high proportion of

aggregate, as long as it tamps and cures
strongly. Crushed bottles, strong rubble,
or plastic trash can be used, but high
aggregate mixes may interfere with
inserting rebar.

Sands, stone dust and gravels can

survive prolonged flood conditions, but
most require special bracing during
construction as well as some form of
structural skin. Sand fill may be
appropriate for several courses to
provide a vibration damping building
base, but becomes unstable in ordinary
bags above 60–100 cm (24–39 in) in
height.
Cement, lime or bitumen stabilization
can allow clay soil to withstand flooding
or allow sands to be used in traditional
bags with a non-structural plaster skin.
Because earthbag walls are usually
38 cm (15 in) thick a large amount of
stabilizer is needed.

Thermal insulating properties are

important for climates that experience
temperature extremes. The thermal
insulating value of a material is directly
related to both the porosity of the
material and the thickness of the wall.
Crushed volcanic rock, pumice or rice
hulls yield higher insulation value than
clay or sand. Untreated organic materials
that could decay should not be used as
part of a structural wall, although they
can be used as infill.

United Earth Builders has tried a light

straw clay in the hyperadobe mesh
tubing to form a layer 200 mm (8") thick
outside of a dome.[14]

Thermal mass properties of earthen fill

moderate temperature swings in
climates that experience high
temperature fluctuations from night to
day. This thermal flywheel effect makes
massive earth walls ideal for mild or hot
and dry climates. Clay or sand also have
excellent heat retention characteristics
and, when properly insulated from the
home's exterior, can serve as thermal
mass in a passive solar building design
in cool climates, keeping interior
temperatures stable year-round.

Reinforcement and structural

performance

Solid CE may be built with less barbed

wire in low-risk areas because walls
solidify between courses. Earthbag using
woven bags or tubes need barbed wire
for any level of natural hazard since the
bag-to-bag surfaces are slippery. Pins
between courses do not contribute
important linear out-of-plane strength.[15]
Walls of earthbag with barbed wire are
more flexible than adobe and may resist
collapse when carefully detailed.

Earthbag of weak soil with no steel can

be half the shear strength of
unreinforced adobe, which is easily
damaged in earthquakes. New Zealand's
code detailing and plans allow
unreinforced adobe walls to survive
almost 0.6 g forces (comparable to Ss
values for 2% probability of excedance in
50 years), but earthbag needs stronger
soil to match this strength. Earthbag in
Nepal surpassed this strength slightly by
resisting forces above 0.7 g in early
2015.[16] Domes tested in California
resisted approximately 1 g forces, due to
the stable shape of these less than 7 m
(23 ft) diameter buildings.[17]

Current earthbag techniques of inserting

rebar unattached to base and
overlapping without connection may only
resist 1.2 g or less, even if using very
strong soil. Special reinforcement is
needed

Solid CE of strong soil has higher shear

and out of plane strength than modular
CE,.[18] It may also allow the use of mesh
for horizontal reinforcement in addition
to or in place of barbed wire.
Contained gravel or contained sand may
perform best with wire wrapped around
the sides of straight wall sections,
alternating with the next course having
barbed wire gift-wrapped under and over
the same straight sections. Base walls of
CG in high risk regions may need
additional buttresses at the foundation
level where builders cannot afford a
reinforced concrete (RC) grade beam or
footing. A narrower plastic mesh tube
often used for erosion control wattle
could be filled with gravel to allow a half-
width RC ring beam under the wide walls.

Forming the house

A roof can be formed by gradually
sloping the walls inward to construct a
dome. Vaulted roofs can be built on
forms. Or a bond beam is used under a
traditional roof type. Hip roofs, gable-type
trusses or vigas may be needed to
reduce outward stress on earthen walls.

Earth domes are inexpensive to build, but

waterproofing them is complex or
expensive in humid regions.

Windows and doors can be formed with

a traditional masonry lintel or with
corbeling or brick-arch techniques, on
temporary forms. Light may also be
brought in by skylights, glass-capped
pipes, or bottles placed between bag
courses during construction.

Finishing

Cover the wall to prevent damage to the

bags from UV rays or moisture with
cement-based stucco, or lime or earthen
plaster. If walls are 'raw' earth, an infill
plaster of earth with straw is used to fill
the nooks between bags or courses. A
finish plaster is applied on top.

Roof overhangs are helpful to reduce

plaster waterproofing requirements,
although plaster on lower walls may be
stronger and more water-resistant than
plaster on upper walls.

Some buildings use a planted-earth

"living roof" ("green-roof") to top the
structure, while others use a more
conventional framing and roof placed
atop earth-bag walls.

Environmental friendliness
Earthbag construction uses very little
energy compared to other durable
construction methods. Unlike concrete,
brick or wood, no energy is needed to
produce the earthen fill other than
gathering soil. If on-site soil is used, little
energy is needed for transportation.
Unlike rammed earth construction, only
human labor energy is required to tamp
the soil lightly. The energy-intensive
materials that are used – plastic (for
bags & twine), steel wire, and perhaps the
outer shell of plaster or stucco – are
used in relatively small quantities
compared to other types of construction,
often totaling less than 5% of the building
materials. Buildings last a long time
when maintained. However, if "raw" or
unstabilized soil is used as fill, when the
building is no longer useful the earthen
fill can be recycled into either garden
areas, backfill, or new earthen buildings.

Use in disaster areas

Earthbag building techniques were also
explored in Sri Lanka after the 2004
tsunami.[19] Multiple earthbag
construction projects have been
completed in Haiti, most of these after
the earthquake.[20] First Steps
Himalaya[21] and other charities had built
more than 50 earthbag buildings in Nepal
prior to the April 2015 earthquake. Since
then, local builders flocked to ongoing
earthbag training opportunities, including
those by Good Earth Global, which have
led to official Nepal building code
acceptance of this technique for
residences. International NPOs have built
hundreds of contained earth or earthbag
buildings in Nepal as well, more
residences than larger clinics or schools.
NPOs are asking for more structural
information to be better able to choose
reinforcement types and intensity
appropriate to local soil strength and
seismic risk. University testing has begun
but more is needed.

Colonization of the Moon

Khalili proposed using the techniques of
earthbag construction for building
structures on the Moon or other planets.
Currently, it is quite expensive to lift a
positive-mass payload from Earth. Thus,
Khalili's techniques would seem to be an
ideal solution as the requisite supplies
would consist of lightweight bags and a
few tools to fill them. He specified that
such bags would probably have pre-sewn
"hook and loop" (i.e. Velcro) fastener
strips in lieu of barbed wire.

See also
Earth structure
Rice-hull bagwall construction
Green roof
Natural building
Super Adobe
Gabion
Cellular confinement (geocell)

References
1. Morris, Hugh. (2006) Aseismic
Performance-Based Standards for Earth
Construction (https://www.researchgate.n
et/publication/238731694_New_Zealand_
Aseismic_Performance-Based_Standards
_Earth_Construction_Research_and_Oppo
rtunities) , pp. 52–66
2. Standard Guide for Design of Earthen Wall
Building Systems E2392 / E2392M –
10e1
3. Stouter, Patti (May 2017) Estimated Shear
Strengths of Contained Earth Walls. Build
Simple Inc. www.BuildSimple.org
4. Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and
Techniques eBook (http://www.ebooks.co
m/ebooks/book_details.asp?IID=25639
5) . eBooks.com (2004-11-19). Retrieved
on 2011-07-27.
5. BSI Resources (http://buildsimple.org/res
ource-lists.php) Archived (https://web.ar
chive.org/web/20170113082243/http://b
uildsimple.org/resource-lists.php) 2017-
01-13 at the Wayback Machine. Build
Simple Inc. Retrieved on 2017-01-10.
6. Geiger, Owen (2011). "Earthbag Building
Guide: Vertical Walls" (http://www.earthba
gbuilding.com/articles/ebbuildingguide.
htm) . www.earthbagbuilding.com.
Retrieved 2017-01-10.
7. Natural Building Blog (http://www.natural
buildingblog.com/)
8. History of Earthbag at (http://www.earthb
agbuilding.com/history.htm) .
Earthbagbuilding.com. Retrieved on 2011-
07-27.
 9. EarthBag Building System (http://www.ear
thbagbuild.com/earthbagbuild.htm) .
Earthbagbuild.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-
27.
10. Kennedy, Joseph F.; Smith, Michael G.;
Wanek, Catherine, eds. (2014). The Art of
Natural Building (2nd ed.). Canada: New
Society Publishers. ISBN 978-
0865717718.
11. Project Types: Sustainable Building 541-
850-6300 (http://www.structure1.com/Ear
thbag.pdf) Archived (https://web.archive.
org/web/20170113052659/http://www.st
ructure1.com/Earthbag.pdf) 2017-01-13
at the Wayback Machine. (PDF). Retrieved
on 2011-07-27.
12. EarthbagBuilding.com Earthbag Testing
Research Summary (http://www.earthbag
building.com/testing.htm)
13. Canadell R., Samuel, A. Blanco and S.
Cavalero (2016) Comprehensive Design
Method for Earthbag and Superadobe (htt
ps://upcommons.upc.edu/handle/2117/8
7476) Materials and Design 96 (2016)
270- 282
14. United Earth Builders (2017) UEB Eco-
Guesthouse Prototype (http://www.united
earthbuilders.com/projects) Accessed
July 5, 2017
15. Ross, Brandon et al. (2013) Wind Load
Test of Earthbag Wall. Buildings 2013, 3,
532-544
16. Stouter, P. (May 2015) Rebuilding Nepal
Sustainably: Culture, Climate and Quakes
p. 7 Build Simple Inc.,
www.BuildSimple.org
17. Kahlili, N. and Vittore, P. (1998) Earth
Architecture and Ceramics: The Sandbag/
Superadobe/ Superblock Construction
System (http://www.earthbagbuilding.co
m/Testing/superadobe.htm) Cal-Earth
18. Stouter, P. (May 2016), Stronger EB
Corners (http://www.BuildSimple.org) ,
Build Simple Inc.
19. Earthbag housing: structural behaviour
and applicability in Sri Lanka. Engineering
Sustainability [serial online]. December
2011;164(4):261-273. Available from:
Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA.
Accessed December 5, 2015.
 20. "The Sun House" (http://www.earthbagbui
lding.com/projects/haiti.htm) .
21. STACEY K. Earthbag buildings a quake
solution. Nelson Mail, The [serial online].
August 29, 2015:3. Available from:
Newspaper Source Plus, Ipswich, MA

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