Cob: New to the list

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Sat, 5 Jan 2002, Cheryl Murphy wrote:

[snip]
> The homes that I've seen that are unique in structure - rounded and
> extremely
> creative - all seem to be small, though.  Is there are reason for this?
> The larger
> ones look like conventional buildings and don't have that lucid, flowing
> quality.
[snip]

There are several reasons that cob homes are often smaller than
conventional buildings.  Depending on who the home is for, a combination
of some of the following reasons usually will play a part in the decision,
though there are certainly many other reasons:

   1 - Building with cob if done in the traditional manner can be alot of
       hard work and a smaller building means less work.

   2 - Smaller homes are more economical to build, requiring less money
       for materials and construction.  Building a home is not just the
       walls, it also (generally) requires a roof, wiring, plumbing,
       windows, and a variety of finish work.  The larger the building,
       the more money will be required for these things.

   3 - Smaller homes are more environmentally responsible, requiring less
       resources and energy to build, heat and cool.

   4 - Many people who choose cob own less, so they have no need for all
       the space that so many of us seem to "need" for storing all of our
       possessions.

   5 - Smaller homes are less expensive to own since they cost less
       for: heating, cooling, property taxes, insurance, and maintenance.

Most of the above apply to any type of home construction, but in my
experience, people who look at alternative building are often more aware
of these trade-offs because they come to alternative techniques such as 
cob due to personal concerns about the environment, limited financial
resources, or both.

The reasons for using rounded structures with cob (aside from
artistic preferences) include:

   1 - Structurally the most stable

   2 - Requires the least amount of constructed wall for square footage
       enclosed, saving time and labor.

   3 - Due to having the least amount of wall for enclosed square footage,
       requires the least energy to heat and cool for a given size of
       house.

Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
                      |    Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers
Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications
   or: (541) 451-5177 |                  www.deatech.com