A friend of mine and I have started working on a new project recently; Operation Oasis! We are creating a common or communal pod that would house the kitchen, shower, solar power and internet. From there we will be building our own pods that share some of the utilities.

This post and beam structure has a rubble trench foundation with 3 courses of earthbags. From there the walls are a hybrid of straw-bale, light-clay or not-so-light-clay and wattle and cob all covered with an earthen plaster.

We’ve been at it for a month. It’s exciting.  Stay tuned!

Watch the progress here »
See a slideshow here »

It’s funny just how excited I can get about collecting cow poo. It’s a free resource, and the cows just keep making more of it everyday.

As you might have read before, using cow manure in earthen plasters is very nice. The fibers make a tough surface and it glides right on the wall. These cows work hard all day to mow the fields leaving little coin shaped presents behind. Since I have a friend that is going to be plastering their house I thought I’d do a little poo collecting for them. So. I grabbed a couple buckets and began my bovine easter egg hunt.

Of course it’s the best straight from the source, but running behind a cow with a bucket all day isn’t my idea of a good time. I found that the some what soft stuff is easy to work with, while the old dry stuff is hard to break up. I guess that’s a testament to it’s durability. This time I decided that I would run it through a sifter to make the particles really fine. Last time I just soaked it and mixed it in the plaster. The problem with that is there is little chunks that pop out while plastering and chunks could create weak spots in the finish.

One must be a little more intimate than one would like with the poo, but I think the sifting will be well worth it. After sifting the material is light and fluffy, kinda like saw dust.

I’ll report back with our plaster findings.

Evening at the Moonunit. A video pictorial of Project MoonUnit at night.
With special guests Jo-anna Horn and Nedly Underfoot.
Video by Michael Blaha.
Music by Low.

View video »
Continue…

While visiting Cob Projects, I found a link to Stephen Hren’s article in Home Power Magazine ( A Hand Built Home - From the Ground Up - download PDF article ).

Stephen Hren and his wife Rebekah built their cob home in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, about 30 miles north of Duram. What amazes me about this project is that it’s completely up to code and it’s cost is so little. The construction cost for the house was $10,950. Affordable? Yes. Later additions of a solar PV system, driveway, septic and well adds another $9,200. $20,150 is very affordable even for the most modest-of-means among us.

Labor, around 2000 hours of it, was not included in the ( monetary) cost. Stephen, Rebekah and their friends traded sweat equity instead of money. Which at $20 an hour, a basic skilled laborer wage, totals $40,000.

Their inspector allowed them to use Pima County, Arizona, building codes that detail “monolithic adobe”. Mark down another code-accredited cob home for the records!

I find it very exciting that cob is finding it’s way into the mainstream of modern housing. Much appreciation goes out to those trailblazers that are working twords building ecologically friendly, inexpensive, monolithic adobe homes.

“Mud, like music, is a shared language: all ages and cultures can join in. ”
- Robert Alcock

Based in a small coastal village in northern Spain, Lesspress Ecological Studies Centre researchs, demonstrates and promotes ecological understanding and sustainable ways of life.

Their current project includes a small cottage and study center, made of cob, called Snail Cabin. It’s plan includes passive solar heating, high-efficiency wood stoves, solar hot water, composting toilets, and greywater recycling.

This is a great site full of resources. Visit the LessPress Eco-builder Journal to follow the groups progress.