The “Earth Bag Construction” method has been selected by NASA for Mars colonization and it’s also ideally suited to wilderness shelters as well. Here’s 7 reasons why…

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1. Earthquake resistance

Earthbag is the most indestructible sustainable building technique in existence. Earthbag buildings are so tough they have been known to damage the earthquake-testing equipment and show no sign of structural weakness.

2. Simplicity

There’s not much more to it than filling up sacks with wet mud, laying them end to end and squashing them flat. Rings of barbed wire are run between the layers to prevent them from slipping away from each other.

3. Energy efficiency

An earthbag house stores both heat and cool. There’s no need for an air conditioner in summer, and in winter – if you place your windows strategically to absorb the maximum sunlight – your house is cozy and warm long after the sun goes down.

4. Perfect for unconventional designs, circular or oval-shaped buildings, domes or arches

You can create all manner of interesting shapes with earthbag. Curvy or round walls are both strong and easy to construct. Earthbag is also famed for its domes and arches. It’s a beautifully flexible building method.

5. Bullet and shrapnel proof

An earthbag house normally has walls about 40-60 cm thick, which is a boon if you’re expecting a firearm attack, or happen to live in a war zone. Unless someone’s popping round with a warhead, you can feel pretty unassailable.

6. Inexpensive to build

The only expense with earthbag building is the sacks and the barbed wire. My home cost me about $5000, but most of that money was spent on labour, the floorboards and the roof.

7. Beauty

When people first saw my home without its mud plaster finish, they thought it looked like a bomb shelter. I’m happy to say, that is no longer the prevailing opinion.

See the finished product and learn more about earthbag homes at Mother Earth News.

Here’s a time lapse video of an earth bag building being erected

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