How to build an earthbag home for $11.50 per square foot

“Are you looking for a DIY construction technique for building an affordable earthquake-, flood-, and bullet-resistant home? Look no further.

There are a lot of variations of designs for homes built with earth, from Mike Oehler’s classic $50 underground house to rammed earth and adobe, but earthbag construction appears to be one of the most economical options that lends itself easily to DIY construction. Granted, there’s a lot of ‘sweat equity’ required to build one (though probably not nearly as much as an Earthship), but the finished product is considered to be not only earthquake- and flood-resistant, but also bullet-proof, which is something to consider when building your apocalypse-proof dwelling.

Many years ago, after spending a significant amount of time and energy researching DIY home building techniques for a potential off-grid home for my family, I came to the conclusion that earthbag construction would be the best option for our situation, and although the plan to build our hippie enclave out in the boonies fell through (a story for another day), I still think this method of DIY building holds a lot of promise for sustainable, low embodied-energy homes. It’s not exactly standard fare for building inspectors and local code compliance, but earthbag construction isn’t a brand new technique, and many others have already set precedents in their locations, so getting one approved doesn’t have to mean reinventing the wheel (your mileage may vary).” [Contact Structure1.com to get code approved plans.]

More at the source: Treehugger.com