Dale Hodgins wrote:I live in Canada's most mild climate. Still, I would not consider earth bag construction, due to it's poor thermal performance.
Straw bale construction and cordwood have been done successfully in eastern Canada. They are both suited to the climate and available resources.
I don't know if what you say is true. The insulation value of earth bags can be increased with Perlite, essentially creating air pockets inside the earthcrete mixture. I know people who live in yurts in southern Ontario year round, and have no issues. After all, an earth bag house is a giant thermal mass, which would provide radiant heat in conjunction with some type of radiant heater like a rocket mass heater or masonry heater. Think about it this way, you say earth bag domes are not insulated enough for Canada, yet Inuit have been living since forever in domes made from snow, or sod.
Earth bags in general are meant to be small and have a low impact on the environment. The easiest way to live in an earth bag house is to make an arrangement with someone you know that has land. Build the house on their property. Most building codes in Canada say you can have a outbuilding on your property of up to 107 sq ft. as long as it is not the primary structure on the property, and it does not have any utilities inside it. That being said, as long as no one complains, you would have no issue living in there. You would have to use the utilities in the primary building, and would not be able to hook up running water or plumbing for a toilet. Although collecting and storing rainwater, and buying water in recyclable jugs can sustain your water needs. You could rig up a makeshift shower and buy an on demand water heater, make sure you use biodegradable soap though.
As long as no neighbors complain you can technically build your outbuilding to whatever size you want to. I would make my main structure 107 sq ft. and build more domes surrounding it. This way you can demolish the other domes if neighbours get annoyed. If your neighbours are environmentally conscious like you, then you should not have anything to worry about.
Hereto I plan to buy a cheap primary building and land with good soil and some kind of water access (stream or pond) and build an earth bag home. I would use the primary building as a Bathhouse. I will hopefully not spend a lot on this property by buying a fixer upper.
The benefit to this is:
1. A mortgage may not be Required.
2. Home insurance not required.
3. Cheap property taxes.
4. Grow my own food, for the most part.
5. Cheap heating and cooling costs.
Hope this helps.
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