Cob: Cold Temps

[Ocean]

hey "BB"!

sorry, but anonymous entries don't seem to be in the spirit of this 
listserv or of the cob building movement in general...

could you be more specific (and less anonymous) regarding:

1) what cob building you were referring to

2) what structural problems you perceived

3) who (gasp!) were the"acknowledged leaders" involved in creating the 
aforementioned building

---and---

4) who you are

thanks!
in the spirit of more knowledge and less anonymous discussion/criticism
ocean liff-anderson

steward of ahimsa sanctuary (check out our newly updated website!!!!!)
http://www.peacemaking.org

owner/manager of intaba's kitchen (best food and coolest cob ambiance on 
the west coast!)
http://www.intabas.com

btw:  as far as i know (and ianto evans of the cob cottage company will 
confirm) there are no (absolutely none) scientific analyses available on 
cob structures, since those of us who build with cob don't have the 
riduculous amounts of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ or time to waste on such academic 
ventures, besides we feel that 500++ years of real world experience in 
cob building seems to be enough to convince us of the safety of earthen 
architecture

hey, what are you afraid of???

---------------------------------
On Sunday, August 11, 2002, at 12:04 PM, baco at pacinfo wrote:

> I like the folksy flavor of all the thumbnail engineering and anecdotal
> evidence, but does anyone know of good source for science based 
> analysis of
> the physical properties of cob? I would sure like to see a structural
> engineer/architect join some of these discussions.
>
> My sense is that many of us value off-grid approaches and organic
> approaches, but the simple fact is that sharing "I did it and nothing 
> bad
> has happened so far" stories can lead to some dangerous situations. I 
> looked
> at a cob structure and even my inexperienced and untrained eye quickly 
> found
> a structural problem that could result in a death or injury, and that 
> was a
> structure that acknowledged leaders in the field had a hand in creating.
>
> BB