Super Adobe Building Project - Uncomon Good

Lliona Khalili, Director of Cal-Earth describes the Super Adobe building process and it's environmental advantages. The Super Adobe process described was developed by Liiona's late husband, architect Nader Khalili.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• green
• sustainable architecture
• environmental design
• Uncommon Good

[Jenntasnim]

I'm so sorry to hear that Nader Khalili is no longer with us. Insha'llah his blessings are abundant and he is at peace and joyful in his current place.

[PurpleGhost]

@maska1870 (Part three) - To clarify, for you, and any curious readers. The purpose of my comment was mentioned at the outset of it, which is that there are things which can sway the cost. And certainly the relevance of /that/ statement shouldn't be undermined.

So lets cease this, I've eaten my words, only portions of them remain solid. And I'd rather not suffer any more personal defamation, or accusations of 'wilful ignorance'.(which this was not) Anything further is unnecessary and insulting.

[PurpleGhost]

@PurpleGhost (Part two)Secondly, I wasn't questioning the building code(s) themselves, I merely stated something as though it were an absolute, when it is not; and then when questioned, hastened to add that my knowledge is limited.

And though, the single line of eight words isn't relevant as I had initially thought, the rest of my comment needn't be trashed as though my whole comment was 'misleading rot'.

Frankly, I think we got off on the wrong foot. I'm not trying to sell a load of trollop.

[PurpleGhost]

@maska1870 - (Part one) And you sir, are blowing things out of proportion.

My answer was to the best of my knowledge, and I already admitted that it was a statement made out of too little research, ergo out of mild ignorance. It IS required where I live, however, so I did not feel it an unreasonable stretch from what little else I had read on it.

The portion of my comment in question however, was only eight words long, and not the intended focus of my comment as a whole.

...

[maska1870]

@PurpleGhost You said most codes require them, and I just cant imagine a single one stating you have to add flame retardants to an inflamable product, and I'll tell you why: concrete is accepted as a fire retardant in 3 codes I'm familiar with, especially for protecting steel constructions.

You sir, are questioning a solid building system with no knowledge on the mater whatsoever, and you gave misleading information to a curious person.

Sorry if I sound blunt, but thats all I meant to say.

[PurpleGhost]

@maska1870 - I did mentioned that this may not apply to all places in my first post, clearly to that is the case for where you are aware of. Where I live in Canada(but it's provincial, so probably not the whole of Canada), it is required, this is all I can claim definite knowledge of, beyond that is all minor-skim research and hearsay.

Why are you trying to hash out particulars as if I was claiming definite knowledge that you have to 'refute'?

I wasn't. My point was, labour /could/ be costly.

[maska1870]

@PurpleGhost What building codes are we talking about here? In Europe (or at least 3 I'm familiar with) fire-retardants are only necessary on flammable products, those which ignite when a naked flame is applied directly to them and kept there or not, and cement is neither of those. No matter how much fire-retardant you apply to the cement mix(Ive never seen them)it isn't going to prevent your furniture from catching fire.

3 man team= 43.01€/h= 344,08€/day.

With a minimum supervision you could.

[PurpleGhost]

@maska1870 - I already mentioned /WHY/ a fire-retardant is necessary: building codes require them. Because things /IN/ houses /ARE/ flammable, and as a safety precaution. If Cement parades have to have them by law, then so does this(and they DO.)

The 'estimate' is snagged from a company which builds cement domes, in theory this is their line of work, /I/ claim no knowledge of the actual costs entailed.

Easy as may look, don't think just anyone should attempt it as a 'do it yourself' project.

[maska1870]

@PurpleGhost Fire retardant? last time I checked earth was still a non flammable product, neither was the cement or plaster that covers the plastic sandbags.

Your estimate is crazy, there isn't a hope in hell a laborer can make 1500$ a week, thats 6 grand a month!

Besides, the idea behind is you make it yourself or supervise and help others in the process.

[PurpleGhost]

@Achbar - Using dirt, sandbags, then plaster?

Two things could sway the cost heavily: is your climate dry enough to use it's own dirt, and labour costs.

Then, the cost of plaster, other internal/external finishings, including fire retardant (required in most first world countries by law) ...

Really if labour isn't an issue (it can $1000 dollars a day for a crew of 3 men), and you don't have to import/buy the dirt (there are dirt storage sites for good quality earth removed from building sites)