Cob Fibrous Cement & How To Join ESSA/ earthship listserv (reply)

[Craig Hull]

> Fibrous cement is amazing stuff.  Mike makes adobe like blocks from it
> and uses it like adobe blocks.  Properly mixed fibrous cement has a load
> bearing strength greater than adobe, and is lighter than adobe and has
> an R value of 2.8 per inch.  That means a 1' wall has a value of about
> 33+ R value a 2' wall would be 66.7. It will hold a screw, you can build
> the structure then cut the doors and windows with a chainsaw.  Mike
> builds the walls and roof from this material.   Fibrous cement will not
> burn and termites will not eat it. You can paint it, use it like
> plaster, seal it with hot tar or cover it with elastometeric plastic
> coatings.  It is easier to work with than regular cement since it is
> lighter and too much water simply drains away instead of weakening the
> mixture.   It is not satisfactory for footings or situations where it is
> subject to high continuous moisture saturation.  Mike does construct
> buried structures.

Does anyone have any test data on this stuff. The above description sounds
too good to be true. Especially the R2.8 per inch. Would this make a good
plaster for straw bales, with or without the claimed R values?