[Cob] California and "Green Building Code"

[Damon Howell]

	I seriously doubt I'll see a cob building code in my lifetime. Why  
not? We all know the answer; because there's no wood, concrete,  
steel, fiberglass, or asphalt being sold. Don't you think it's odd  
that those industries write the code? We're interested in cob for  
different reasons, but usually cobbers understand there is something  
fundamentally wrong with the building code; it prohibits the use of  
any native material. Build a homestead, legally, from scratch with  
the materials you have on hand? That is absurd. You can't possibly  
make a safe building with cob. I tell you, those darn stick framed  
houses are crapolla and don't even deserve to be compared to the  
strength of cob. But we don't have numbers!!!! Where are the numbers  
from the seismic test they done in Vancouver at the university? Those  
facts are what we need when we go to the building department, but  
mysteriously they can't be found.

Damon in GA