Cob: intro

[billc_lists at greenbuilder.com]

Hi Layth,

You should get in touch with the folks at DCAT- the Development 
Center for Alternative Technology (http://www.dcat.org).  They're 
working with the national building code team that's putting together 
a model code for earthen construction.  You could tap into some very 
good minds there, and possibly help that project along too.

They are very busy folks and have lost a lot of their funding due to 
the recent belt-tightening, but they're very dedicated to this kind 
of thing.

>Hello everyone,
>   My name is Layth, I have joined this list about 2 years ago, and I 
>have been reading all the interesting and informative emails to the 
>list. I am a graduate architecture student, doing my thesis.  Since 
>I do not have the structural engineering background, I was not able 
>(or allowed) to have a thesis about the structural stability of 
>earth buildings in earthquake areas.  I took a break after that 
>disappointment and returned to my graduate study this January.  Now 
>I have a new thesis, and it describes three kinds of earth 
>buildings, there properties, there applications, and the obstacles 
>that are keeping these buildings from the main stream. I was hoping 
>that some from this list might help me with some things.  Especially 
>people who already are living in Cob or other earthen house.  My 
>only hands on experience with cob was when I built a small seed 
>propagation sort of green house.  It was 8'X4'X2.5' with a glass top 
>, The outside was not plastered, and the structure stood directly on 
>the ground (a no no I guess).  I just did it with what I had and I 
>did not have enough stones to make the building be off the ground. 
>The walls where 8"-1'   thick.  And it had sprayers on the inside to 
>water the seed beds.  That structure has been standing now for three 
>years with the only problem of ANTS starting to borrow into the cob 
>walls!!
>   Well I just wanted to introduce myself and hope for your help in 
>the coming weeks.
>
>Layth


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Bill Christensen
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