[GSBN] Emerald update (GSBN Digest, Vol 33, Issue 17)

Sat Feb 5 11:36:43 UTC 2011

Hi Chris

Earth bags (also known as superadobe) looks like a good solution to this
situation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Adobe

Jorge VK

On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 7:16 AM, Chris Newton <chris at newtonhouse.info> wrote:

>   Thanks guys
> Thanks Guys
>
> I had  a look at an informative site last night on what the Aussies are
> doing with perlite and vermiculite
> http://www.australianperlite.com/perlite-concrete.htm. Great products –
> though if you look at the EE – all that vermiculite has to be imported from
> the Kiwi’s and the perlite from another couple of thousand KMs south.
> Emerald is beyond the black stump. Once upon a time they had a lot of
> precious stones. Now they have a big dam with lots of cotton, wheat,
> oranges. (all gone with the the big wet and not durable for the future). The
> town is thriving between the cotton and coal industry. Everything gets
> trained in/out. Brisbane is 1000km from there.
>
> I guess the biggest issue for us are
> 1..  we need a product that will withstand the flood conditions that this
> building has just been through. ie bottom bales in water for 3 days, second
> bales in water for 1 day. As much as all us wished to be able to use straw
> again, the evidence from monitoring the walls for 1 month was overwhelming.
> The straw was rotting.
>
> 2..  our stake holders included local council, Qld Tourism, insurer,
> engineer, builder etc we needed to give them the confidence that the
> solution was long term / climate change friendly.
>
> 3.. It needs to be able to do the job the bottom 2 rows were doing –
> supporting the non load bearing walls, and its render, insulation,
> aesthetics.
>
> 4... Then we looked at options that were achievable from an engineering
> point of view. Colin is standing behind me wanting to know how you pour this
> product into some framework 2 bales high while supporting the SB walls
> above? These are great option for ground up construction (along with those
> lovely mussel shells), but is going to be a bit of a brain teaser for
> restoration work. Though we open to here how if your miles ahead and were
> missing something obvious.
>
> Colin tells me that it will be a bit of trial an error, that is why he will
> be on site with the builders from the go.
>
> My understanding is that they are thinking of leaving the external wall of
> lime intact. A few extra expansion joints before work starts.
> Working segment at a time.
> Breaking some holes through the width of the wall using Lance’s coring
> piece.
> Placing beams through these which will be supported by jacks.
> Removal of straw below (still leaving that lime on the external surface)
> Having the light weight blocks to work into this space will be beneficial –
> there are threaded rods at 900mm centres, some tie down wires, low window
> sills, doors etc to work around. The benefit of the super insulation EPS
> blocks is the fact that it is super light weight, cheap, engineered for the
> load, can take on a curved form where needed, and can be worked into this
> space in a timely manner.
> Patch render, make finish good, go home.
> We’re not worried about those little termites. We have them everywhere in
> Qld, doing what termites do. We construct to stop the problem at slab level
> – end of story.
>
> Chris
>
>
>  *From:* Kelly Lerner <klerner at one-world-design.com>
> *Sent:* Friday, February 04, 2011 9:56 PM
> *To:* ArchiLogic at yahoo.ca ; (private, with public archives) Global Straw
> Building Network <GSBN at greenbuilder.com>
> *Cc:* SB Yahoos <sb-r-us at yahoogroups.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [GSBN] Emerald update (GSBN Digest, Vol 33, Issue 17)
>
> My (late) two cent's worth to add to RT's thoughts on EPS under bales.
>
> I agree that EPS is overkill in terms of insulation and has the added
> problems of possibly creating moisture issues and is loaded with fire
> retardant (in addition to the issues of global warming potential,
> susceptibility to insect attack, high embodied energy, etc).
>
> I'm moving towards using compacted perlite as under-slab insulation in
> Spokane, WA. I wonder if you have any natural, mineral based material like
> perlite or pumice locally available? If so, you might want to check it out.
> Just a thought. We used a cavity brick wall filled with pumice-like coal
> slag as an insulated wall at the base of strawbale walls in northern China.
> Not perfect, but locally available and a good moisture resistant wall base
> under strawbale walls.
>
> Thanks for sharing so much of your process. Huge gift to the SB community!
>
>  On Jan 27, 2011, at 11:22 PM, RT wrote:
>
>  On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:00:03 -0500, <gsbn-request at greenbuilder.com>
> wrote:>
>
> Message: 1
>
> on Thu, 27 Jan 2011 09:21:17 +1000
>
> "Chris Newton" wrote:
>
> Re: Fw: Emerald update
>
>
> Currently we plan to replace [all of the flood-damaged bales] with
> engineered high density expanded polystyrene foam blocks.
>
>
> Of course we are really interested in any other greener product out there
> that will meet the needs, we have a few months up our sleeve to explore and
> experiment.
>
>
> I guess we are now looking at replacing 2 layers of bales around the whole
> building. I hear conversations between Lance and Col about supporting the
> upper bales in various ways while the damaged bales are removed, and having
> to put a new capillary layer on top of the expanding foam.
>
> [snip]
>
> (for full text of message/thread, see
>      http://greenbuilder.com/pipermail/gsbn/2011q1/001252.html )
>
>
>  Kelly Lerner, Architect
> One World Design Architecture
> 509-838-8812
> www.one-world-design.com
>
> Have you read Natural Remodeling for the Not-So-Green House? Available in
> Bookstores across the Universe.
> www.naturalremodeling.com
>
>
>
>
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