Greenhomebuilding.com E-zine is a monthly opt-in email publication for people who are interested in sustainable architecture and alternative or natural building. It is written by Kelly Hart, the host of http://www.greenhomebuilding.com ....

Site News
Greenhomebuilding.com is now averaging over 400 unique visitors each day, and is ranked at 405,058 in average traffic for all websites worldwide; not bad for a website that was only launched 8 months ago!

I am pleased to announce that I have made arrangements with two new panelists to join the "Ask the Experts" page. Jeff Ruppert of Odisea Engineering in Boulder, Colorado has offered to field questions on the topic of strawbale building as well as building codes in general. Jeff has many years of experience in designing and building strawbale structures, since he was a partner in the Strawcrafters Firm that has built many fine homes. His expertise as a Physical Engineer will be greatly appreciated.

The other new panelist is Michael G. Smith, who will take over the position of the cob expert, replacing Elke Cole who asked to retire. Michael is an Associate Editor of The Last Straw Journal, co-founder of the Cob Cottage Company, and author of The Cobber's Companion--How to Build Your Own Home. No one is more knowlegable about building with cob.

I recently spoke with Kaki Hunter, who is currently writing a book about earthbag building to be published by New Society. We were talking about the course that this fairly new technology has been taking, and how it could be more widely publicized and promoted as the elegantly simple and sustainable way to build that it is. Kaki suggested that perhaps we should establish an earthbag building association or network that would serve as a central clearing house for information and networking, specifically related to the use of earthbags. I think that this is a wonderful and timely idea. Initially it could simply be a website with a forum that served to bring together these elements. Let me know what any of you subscribers think of this idea.

One of the most un-sustainable events of recent months has been the U. S. government's move to authorize the Bush administration to use military force on Iraq. I hesitate to even mention this here, because of its political nature, but the possible consequences of this action are so momentous, that it could affect every one on this planet. It would appear from the news media in the U. S. that there is little opposition to this movement, but I have to say that I don't know anyone who actually favors this course of action. The corporate world that put G. W. Bush into the White House also controls the major media these days, so unbiased, or representative reporting is hard to find. There have been massive protests across America to pre-emptive strikes on Iraq, and there has also been much praying that the conflict between the governments can come to a peaceful resolution.

Periodical of the Month

The Last Straw: The International Journal of Straw Bale and Natural Building, now edited by Chris Magwood, who has recently taken over this responsibility from Catherine Wanek, with assistance from many fine strawbale enthusiasts. Each issue of this quarterly Journal focuses on a particular theme, related to natural building. For instance, the Spring 2001 (#33) issue is all about plasters and features no less than 27 illustrated articles, dealing with breathability, earthen plasters, stucco, gypsum, coloration, window detailing, recipes, etc. The wealth of information in every issue is astounding...the sort of information that is hard to find in any other place. This journal is a forum for many points of view, and embraces a wide range of building interests. At $28/year in the United States, it is a bargain. Visit their website, www.strawhomes.com for more information or to subscribe; there are a number of sample articles accessible through their back issues archives.

Progress has been slow, but steady on this project. As you can see from the picture, I have begun to plaster the earthbags that cover the steel quonset vault with papercrete, and am rushing to beat the deep-freeze of winter at 8,000 feet in Colorado. I am attempting a single application of the plaster, with a papercrete mix that has a lot of sand in it to give a harder, more durable surface that will be more resistant to fire and will shrink very little. I lined the earthbags with 2 inch chicken wire before applying the plaster, to resist cracking and provide a more monolithic coating.

You might notice that there is a board mounted just outside the bags above my head. This is a retainer (2X6) that is bolted all the way through the bag wall and the steel shell, right at the point where the vault starts to curve inward. This retainer will keep all of the bags that are stacked above it in place, so they don't topple the vertical portion of the wall.

General and Unsubsrcibe information
Greenhomebuilding.com E-zine is copyright Hartworks, Inc. 2002. Please feel free to use excerpts from this newsletter as long as you give credit with a link to our homepage http://www.greenhomebuilding.com .