Home Construction Alternatives

Throughout history humans have constructed shelters from branches, mud, hides, and wood. The Green Movement has led to increasing interest in older, construction alternatives as opposed to our traditional rectangular structures made with processed lumber.
Adobe, rammed earth, dome homes, and even houses made with tires are being built, though local building codes in many areas have not caught up with the interest in alternative construction methods.

Adobe Homes

Adobe homes have been built in the American southwestern desert for over 1,000 years. Adobe uses local clay to form bricks that are small enough to avoid cracking while drying. The dried bricks are then laid up with mud mortar and the walls are plastered with mud to smooth them.

This method results in thick walls with a large thermal mass, which keeps the home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.

Rammed Earth Homes

Rammed earth construction is extremely simple and has been used for thousands of years. The process consists of pounding moistened dirt a layer at a time until a wall is formed. Obviously, the construction materials are available for free and on-site. Thick walls with a high thermal mass are produced with this alternative construction method. Modern rammed earth projects sometimes incorporate water and Portland cement into the dirt and employ a hydraulic tamper.
Another variation is cast earth construction, using earth, water and gypsum plaster to form walls that are cast like traditional concrete. The advantage to this is that the walls are stronger and set faster, while the economy of using earth is still realized.

Domes

Buckminster Fuller, an American architect, author, and inventor, popularized the geodesic dome as a possible alternative home construction model. The dome is based on a series of triangles which form a semi-circular dome enclosing a living space. Since triangles and circles are extremely stable forms, the dome home is an extremely strong structure, resistant to earthquakes and high winds.
Commercial businesses sell do-it-yourself dome kits, as well as turnkey structures. A new variation on dome construction employs a huge balloon which is blown up on-site, covered with sprayed concrete, and then deflated, leaving a concrete dome for finishing into a home.

Cordwood

Building with cordwood is a simple process of stacking logs held in place with mortar. This is another method that has been used for thousands of years. Most cordwood homes today are made by stacking short logs width-wise, held in place with mortar. Cordwood construction is economical and results in an energy-efficient home.

Earthships

Michael E. Reynolds (Guitar International/Earthship Visionary of Taos/2009) looked at the approximately 250 million tires discarded annually as a resource for building Earthships. Earthships are constructed by piling steel-belted radial tires packed with dirt to form the walls of a building. They are usually backed into a hill on the north end and face the south. This orientation, along with the very thick walls, produces a tremendous thermal mass to moderate outdoor temperatures. The walls are plastered with stucco and the whole structure looks like adobe when completed.
As people become more concerned about saving resources and energy, many are looking to the past for alternative home construction methods. Adobe , rammed earth, and cordwood construction have served many generations in many cultures well. Newer innovations like the geodesic dome apply scientific principles to alternative construction. Still others look to the by-products of our civilization for recycling into living spaces.

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