[Cob] Re: Cob workshops in the Washington, DC area

[Raduazo at aol.com]

On June 10 and 17 There will be two workshops for the price of  one. Nancy 
and Hilary will be doing a cob workshop while I will begin applying  lime putty 
to the straw bale walls. Also, there are still plenty of vacancies at  the 
June 7 cob workshop running 6 PM till dark.  
If there are people at the cob workshops who missed  the bale/living roof 
workshop and are interested in discussing living  roof technology, Nancy said she 
is willing to go over what has been done and  what needs to be done to design 
and build a living roof.
 
    If you are interested in one of these workshops  they will be in 
Clarinden area just north of Spout Run. Call Joan Kelsh to  reserve a spot at 
703-228-3599.
    If the time slot that you want is filled or if you  have other questions 
regarding cob or bale give me a call. Ed @ 703-360-2316 or  _raduazo at aol.com_ 
(mailto:raduazo at aol.com) 
    Also, I am thinking about making one or more of the  scheduled workshops 
into a rototiller mixing session or perhaps adding a tiller  mixing session. 
If you are interested in seeing how two people can mix and apply  a ton of 
material in one day give me a call.
    Project summery: We are building a cob/straw bale  shed with a living 
roof. Originally this was to be a passive solar enclosure,  but I was overruled 
on the windows. Anyway, When Ianto builds cob/straw bale he  usually constructs 
them at the same time. I worked with him in Wales on such a  project and was 
impressed by how solid the bales felt after they had been stuck  together with 
cob.
    In this project I have erected lode-bearing bales  first and now plan to 
build cob interior wall on the bale surfaces. I hope to  break the one foot 
per day barrier by putting the bale wall up first and using  it as a form for 
the cob.
    I believe cob/bale wall is the best way  to get passive solar in that 
100% of the solar energy stored in interior  walls is recoverable and most of the 
energy stored in bale insulated  exterior walls is recoverable. Ianto says 
that the Wales building only looses a  few degrees per day when you stop heating 
it in the dead of  winter.