We interviewed people who built, lived in CalEarth houses. 

The aim is to get to know their pain points - if there are any, and learn about improvements that they wish to have in the CalEarth houses.

Davide Frasca 

MSc in Sustainable architecture, founder of Vide Terra, wants to make sustainable construction more reachable, Torino, Italy.

Factors of CalEarth house that you like?

• Shape is non-cube! circle is good.
• Material - one material you can built everything.
• Sustainable

Pain-points to build a CalEarth house?

• Labor intensive, 
• Cost for labor, 
• Weather is important and its limitation for the construction.
• Problem with rain because of not having a roof. It needs special care about the plaster.

Changes needed & can be developed for CalEarth construction?

• Compass - can be improved.
• Ability to mix soil and control humidity -It takes time and labor
• Any Mechanism to fill the bag - anything that can help the worker to facilitate the filling of the bag can help.
• Labor is expensive - the factor can be a big part of the cost of the house.

Learn more here

Paul Kreiner

Sustainable builder wants to innovate new techniques, Germany & Vienna

Factors of CalEarth house that you like?

• Working with earth - connecting with the material
• Easiness of the construction, Has higher tolerance
• Aesthetics of the dome structure - standing inside is a structure is a special feeling

Pain-points to build a CalEarth house?

• Soil + Clay composition (sometimes you need a lot of external material)
• Labor intensive - if its not a workshop its really hard to find a labor
• Tools are not available for the build process as they are manufactured for the flat houses

Changes needed / can be developed for CalEarth construction?

• Burlup bags - organic
• Would focus more on the vault structure - it is easy to use furniture and build it everywhere,
• Plastering is a problem.

Learn more here

Sustainable farmer, landowner wants to create sustainable eco-tourism, Oaxaca, Mexico

Factors of CalEarth house that you like?

• Organic Appearance - really attractive
• Sustainable living 
• Low Cost
• Earthquake Resistance
• Self thought, learnt it from Digital files and has built 2 houses and has them for 8 years. Aspiring to built 5 more houses. 

Pain-points to build a CalEarth house?

• Limited to one story
• The material has to be brought to site
• Physical effort, intensive labor work

Changes needed / can be developed for CalEarth construction?

• Stitches the ends of earth bags using a needle to keep them closed.
• Mini crane/ system to move material could be good.
• Development in compass.
• Mixer - get an old cement mixer to mix the composite on site. 
• Uses two lines of metal wire in between layers for more stability.

Learn more here

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Omid Rahmani

Afghan architect, wants to build schools in Afghanistan. Mashhad(Iran) and Herat (Afghanistan)

Factors of CalEarth house that you like?

• The types of materials used are abundant, earth, clay, soil
• Fast to build after earthquakes
• Can build in afghanistan to make schools and emergency shelters

Pain-points to build a CalEarth house?

• Abnormal appearance, not accepted/welcomed/trusted by some people
• Finding specialised labour is hard in Iran
• Hard to get approvals for construction

Changes needed / can be developed for CalEarth construction?

• Get people to engage with them/interact with them to become more comfortable with the style.
• Very good market for villa’s - appeals to new rich/ youth, luxury-chic style
• Low income market is present in Afghanistan not in Iran. 

Learn more here

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Ashley Phillips

Young couple, building their own home , enjoy sustainable living. Willow springs, Missouri, United States
Factors of CalEarth house that you like?

• Stable and protected from storms, gives feeling of safety and comfort
• Cooling works nice at night, you sleep really good
• Cost effective
• Sustainable, fits well into our lifestyle of living with nature

Pain-points to build a CalEarth house?

• Safety at height, as the construction height increases is hard to balance on the top layers. 
• Outside Build; Extreme weather, rain, cold, keeping building protected during the storm. The land freezes in winter making it impossible to build. 
• Slow build progress

Changes needed / can be developed for CalEarth construction?

• Trying an new weather proofing material on the outside.
• Have integrated bar table style furniture in-between the build layers to reduce cost and make integrated furniture.
• Have integrated chains in the layers to be able to practice different hobbies and hang lighting. 
• Need a lot of improvement in the way the material is passed from below to above- may be a pulley? 

Learn more here