Earthbag House Cold Climate

I ve covered the ins and outs of insulation versus thermal mass and earthen homes in cold climates in this post the bottom line is it s going to depend on exactly how cold your climate is.

Earthbag house cold climate. One could also build a double wythe earthbag wall with insulation in outer bags and soil in interior bags however this would increase the cost and labor. My personal experience was as follows. But in my experience the real killer for earth is cold with no sun. Here s a way to combine the best features of earthbags and yurts.

The lightweight climate resilient bamboo structure withstands the heavy rains and about 15 to 20 feet of snow without a problem. Posts about cold climate written by owen geiger. In a place where the temperature remains subzero for months on end you re going to need a lot of insulation. Cold climates are often lumped together in the thermal mass discussion.

Im in eastern canada new brunswick. Interior greenhouse total 1 568 sq. Additional modules have been added to create an elongated rectangular design for. There s great untapped potential for superinsulated earthbag buildings in cold climates.

This modern solar pit house is based on the traditional pit house the construction is much the same. Earthbag house plans primary 15 earthbag homes in cold climates collection wonderful fall planting e book for the backyard except you re a demon composter the fall chores of raking leaves grubbing out backyard trash gleaning mummies from the fruit trees and dragging tomato stakes cucumber trellis and all to the barn will also. Same goes for cold climate earthbag aside from owen geiger s site. I had to light the fire on rainy days even though the temperature was actually a good.

Earthbag building has the unique advantage of providing either thermal mass or insulation and therefore can be adapted for cold climates with an insulated fill material. The basic idea is to combine earthbag walls filled with lightweight insulation such as scoria lava rock with a traditional yurt roof frame that s insulated with perlite or vermiculite. Using the whole bamboo columns ensures the natural insulation by trapping all that air in the bamboo. With this construction process the bamboo is not split in any way.

Energy performance on most buildings can be improved with insulation including those made of earth such as adobe and earthbag structures. Scoria pumice perlite vermiculite or rice hulls could all be used for insulation. The cold this is probably the toughest climate for an earthbag house. Also the building is earthquake resistant.

Posted 8 years ago. Although most earthen structures are located in hot dry climates there is increasing demand for low cost eco friendly earth building techniques in cold climates. My earthbag house was always warmer on cold sunny days than on cloudy days.