Compressed Earth Construction

[Durablockdr]

I am not an aquaculturist however am working on enviromentally sound Projects. We are building CEB (compressed earth block) homes in the DR. Future looks bright......

[Chris]

Durablock, I'd like to know more about what you are doing and where you are doing it? Give us a little more information please.

[Hillbilly]

A long time ago in a far away place I built a school out of dirt bricks. The process was then known as cinveram, and was porportedly from Colombia.
Since it was a self-help project, the labor force was all free....
At that time, forty plus years ago, it was really not economically feasible to build with this technique since a square meter of wall could be put up in cinder blocks a lot cheaper.
Unfortunately, I don't know the economics of this at the present time.

BTW, the school is still standing and doing it's work.

HB

[Durablockdr]

I dont have a response for "where are the big waves" but do have some info reguarding the environment and a considerably friendlier way of building legacy homes. Strong, efficient, siezmic,COOLER, can be built in almost any style and much more.
We have the equipment to produce environmentally sound building blocks (structural masonry blocks) and are currently building our first small home and have the second almost ready to go. We are using the worlds most popular building material, earth. We produce compressed earth blocks and after years of research and several courses for building in siezmic and tropical zones, we are here and ready to go. Some information is available at www.legacygreenhomes.com and many other sites including www.fredwebsterphd.com (a PhD from UCLA with over 20 years research on CEB blocks and construction) or you can simply enter green construction, Green building, natural construction,compressed earth block and many others. There is also a nice blurb at www.about.com see the architectural area and check out Loreto bay, Mexico. There is an entire resort and community being built with compressed earth block. Not ot mention most of the oldest buildings in the world are made from compressed earth (in one form or another).
If you have any questions please get back to us at durablockdr@hotmail.com
Thanks,
Steven

[Durablockdr]

We have rcvd several e-mails requesting more information.
We produce architectural building blocks made from a variety of locally available materials containing clay, sand and gravel. We can produce up to 4000 blocks in an 8 hour period. Normally we produce on sight and take the blocks directly from the press to the wall. In may cases we need no more than water and our blocks to produce a monolithic wall. CEB has been approved for construction in both siezmic and tropical zones and has proven to be one of the best building materials on earth (no pun intended). There is no outgasing and can be much cooler in hot climates, studies show that a CEB home can have 50% lower interior humidity and can be as much as 30 degrees cooler. We use natural plasters, paints and a variety of natural finishings. We can build a small econo home to huge luxury homes with all of the amenities. We are the first of our kind in the Caribbean.
We have several projects underway in the North Coast area.Please let us know if we can get anyone additional information.
Steven
Durablock

[Keith R]

Steven, I've given you enough alot of leeway so far, but I think you're skating too close to becoming an unpaid commercial. If anyone has further questions, they can email or PM you.

Thread closed!

Keith R
Environment Forum moderator