Good Earth Global Earthbag Construction
Good Earth Global
Wall system made with stacked polypropylene bags filled with soil and adhered using barbed wire as mortar.
Good Earth Global (previously Good Earth Nepal) employs and promotes Earthbag technology and other sustainable building methods and teaches these methods to others. Using earthbag construction they work with villagers in developing countries to build disaster-resistant, affordable and eco-friendly homes and schools, and teach an emerging class of builders, architects, and engineers to build with safety and sustainability considerations.
Earthbag technology is a wall system, with structures composed primarily of ordinary soil found at the construction site. The soil is stuffed inside polypropylene bags, which are then staggered like masonry and solidly tamped. Barbed wire is used between the layers of bags and serves as mortar. For seismically active zones, reinforcements like buttresses, vertical rebars and bond beams are recommended. The classical foundation used in earthbag construction is a rubble trench foundation. The roof design can be by preference, as long as it is lightweight.
*Please note that building designs are being included as “products” in the Habitat Sector of the Solutions Library to allow readers to learn from how projects were designed and constructed and how they are serving the occupants, whether effective or ineffective.
Good Earth Global estimates that Earthbag construction costs approximately 9 USD (1077 Nepalese Rupee)Converted in July 2020 per m² while more conventional concrete block costs 25 USD (2992 Nepalese Rupee)Converted in July 2020.
Earthbag construction in Nepal competes with rubble stone and mud, concrete block, and confined masonry construction.
