[Cob] styrocob

[yewberry at wavecable.com]

Damon Howell wrote:

>I have a lot of discarded stryofoam 
>piled up which I thought I may be  
>able to grind down and mix with cob 
>(you know, to increase insulation  
>value). I wasn't going to build a 
>house, but maybe an outbuilding,  
>just to experiment. Has anyone done 
>this, and is it worthwhile you  
>think?

There's an ongoing debate between purist and opportunist 
cob builders around natural/man-made materials in cob 
construction.  I have mixed feelings about it myself.  On 
the one hand, a 100% biodegradable house makes a lot of 
sense to me, but so does using materials that might 
otherwise end up in the landfill.

Aside from the aforementioned debate, though, I imagine 
styrofoam could work well as an insulating cob additive.

Brina