[Cob] Stone houses and "Natural" Building

[Amanda Peck]

I've noticed that the "local food challenges" tend to be within 100 miles.   
Don't really think we're set up for local any more.  For anything.   There 
is straw within a hundred miles.  Don't know about sand, although we've got 
a lot of sandy clayey chert.  Clay just off my property--but anytime anyone 
takes a significant amount out another tree or two falls from the hill 
above--i.e., it's obvious that somebody has been stealing clay from their 
property.  But the last time I did any semi-serious building despite the 
fact that there was a company about 50 miles away making 2 x 4's the ones in 
the local lumberyard were from Austria.   Travel trailers are so much fun!  
If you're a minimalist.

Have you read Tony Wrench's book "How to Build a Low-Impact Round House"  
Not much in the way of building specifics that you can use, but his 
discussions of using local materials, how he agonizes over what to put on 
his roof--he does end up with EPDM, etc. are probably worth absorbing.  Both 
he and Ben Law walk the walk more than most Americans seem to.  And that 
does include me.

I'm weighing the thermal mass vs insulation debate for myself right now, but 
I'm far enough south with 25 acres of mostly hardwood to use as fuel that I 
may not have to think about it as hard as you do.  Light clay may insulate 
pretty well--depending on how you make it.  And for me the moisture 
absorbing properties would be excellent.  But you might want your 
insulation, especially on the north side, on the outside of the building.  I 
don't know.

Also, have you ever worked with "A Pattern Language?"  On the Web-site 
there's a process for designing a small house for one (could use it for a 
studio or for a family--at least a couple).  I'd think it might help clarify 
your thinking about where you want to go:

http://www.patternlanguage.com/smallhouse/begin.htm

..................
Jennifer wrote:

So, here is my dilemma. All my ventures into natural building began on the 
premise of "use what you have," materials as local as possible, etc. I moved 
to a high valley desert surround by mountains, where there is no clay in 
sight for miles. Scoria, etc., even strawbales have to be trucked in (60 
miles or more), while my next door neighbor just dug out his basement and 
came up with enough rock for my house and then some, which he offered to me 
free of charge. Though this is a little more labor intensive than I had been 
planning, I have thought of it more and more. Why not build stone walls with 
a layer of straw clay on the interior for lightness and insulation? Or maybe 
make space for sawdust from the local mill. How about with lime mortar?

This leads to the bigger question of just how natural our buildings really 
are. When we are discussing R values, for example, how do you figure the 
local use of material vs. how much it will take to heat, etc.? I tend to 
frown on the idea of anything being trucked it, but maybe I am looking at 
the project with blinders and will save more energy than is necessary to 
bring in the right thing. Instead of comparing building methods with each 
other I am also comparing them to living in a travel trailer in the dead of 
winter and will have to create other housing by next May. So will it be a 
used tent style yurt, earthbag dome with scoria, stone circle house? This 
process is teaching me over and over again that purism doesn't always make 
sense, but if I am taking extra steps to be deliberately natural, I want to 
be sure that it is worth it.