Cob: Re: how cold can you go?

[Amanda Peck]

I suspect that a lot of strawbale problems are being solved, if not fixed on 
some of the older buildings.

Stem-walls need to be built to take care of the moisture in your building.  
Think of the underground parts as part of the stem-wall. I don't even think 
that the high-tech air-entrained concrete walls can be used 
underground--with a berm around them.  Seems like Evans recommends hybrid, 
e.g. strawbale for insulation on the North and West sides, covered with 
plenty cob on the inside for thermal mass, and then cob elsewhere, including 
interior walls and wonderful heated benches--for REALLY COLD areas.  I'd 
give you a page reference, but I'm not sure where my copy is.

Official Earth-Ships ARE expensive.  They may even be best done by an 
experienced contractor--which is why, of course.


Conversation between Darel and Jen--much snipped:
 > Hi Darel, thanks for your advice 'cause we need it! you seem pretty
experienced so if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you a few more
questions...,

 >Darel wrote: I recommend that you refer to some of the earthship houses
I was surprised to see at earthship.org, that a wee hermitage earthship (not
big enough) could cost $80,000 US. Can this be true? We love the lure of 
being mortgage free and out of the economic grind has greatly
increased our determination to be owner-builders.

we have heard of a couple of strawbale places
around here going rotten inside. However, time & experience may have
remedied that issue by now.
 >
 > Another good idea would be to build into a south facing hill.  This
 > might preclude the use of cob for the inside areas, though.

Why is that?
 >
 > Check the climate data, because if you have a lot of sunny days in the
 > winter, it would make a big difference.



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