News & Adobe Earth Building Workshops
SOLID EARTH LTD run at least one 3-day earthbuilding workshop a year, usually in spring after the Ecofest in Nelson. Please check out this years Workshop schedule and find more detailed information here.
Join us and experience the unlimited possibilities of the building material Earth. Topics covered:
- Experiment with earthen plasters, natural paints and sealants
- Build walls and furniture from adobe brick, cob, light-earth and wattle-and-daub
- Lay a small adobe tile floor
- Sculpt a pizza oven
- Do artwork such as mosaics and reliefs
- Learn more about basic earthbuilding and professional techniques
- Visit a commercial adobe brick manufacture
We sometimes also run oven building workshops. If you wish to host this event and get a pizza oven built, please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss terms and conditions.
| 12 Jan 09 Development of New Light Adobe Bricks |
) Over the last year SOLID EARTH LTD have been involved in the development of a new lightweight adobe brick, which has better insulation properties that the traditional mud brick. The development has been sped up by an amendment to H1 Energy Efficiency, which came in to effect on 1 October 2008. It has tightened up the requirements for insulating houses, and has caused some ripples within the earth building community. The new light adobe brick can still be used in a load-bearing wall and achieves an R value of 1.3 to 1.5 and complies with the new regulations. View test results. When using traditional heavy adobe bricks, there are several ways to prove compliance of clause H1 Energy Efficiency depending on the amount of glazing and your skills or that of your designer. Remember that a house incorporating good passive design including orientation to the sun and well placed thermal mass, will use very little energy if it is well insulated. The building code is the minimum. Do more than that for a low energy home! |
| posted on 12 Jan 09 @ 12:26 back to news |