Cob: how cold can you go?

[jen walker]

Hello cob afficionados,
We were really excited to receive our copy of the Hand Sculpted House which
is wonderfully inspirational reading. We'd love to build a cob house in West
Quebec for us and our two small boys. Our intended location is the
beautiful Ottawa Valley-actually, up the valley in the hills. We nearly have
the money raised for the land. It gets cold here, as low as -40 degrees
celsius (I'm not sure what that is in Fahrenheit), however, the winter
weather is more often in the vicinity of -10 to -20 and is often blazingly
sunny for days on end. Also, a lot of snow is sure to fall. We are only a 2
hour drive north of the border with New York. Its definitely the frigid
hinterland but its not Winnipeg where I believe temps can be as low as -60.
My question is, could a cob house be insulative enough in this locale,
perhaps if built on a south facing slope? Does any one really know as yet?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this matter

Jen Walker, Andy Daub & family