Hybrid Adobe

Hybrid Adobe http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/ Hybrid building materials and fibred adobes have created a revolution in homebuilding. Ancient adobe techniques have proven themselves with some buildings standing literally for thousands of years. Philip Mirkin, who developed Hybrid Adobe, and dozens of earth builders like him, have combined the best of these ancient techniques and modern methods. They’ve created a family of fibred materials that are more water and earthquake resistant than traditional adobe and mud-brick. They are also much lighter and easy to create and use. Hybrid Adobe is a cutting-edge material with many applications including building, landscaping, sculpture, and insulation. Thousands of our students and many others are working together (or easily by themselves) to build low-cost, energy-efficient homes and more out of this material. You can make it yourself on site at very little cost. The components include recyclable and reusable materials (including newspapers, magazines and other waste paper), water, plant fibers, clay, sand and a binder, such as clay or cement or fly-ash to satisfy building department requirements. The method is simple. You create a paper pulp in a mixer (similar to a large kitchen blender), blend in earth and a binder (as a strengthening, hardening and drying agent), plant fibers (including herbs such as sage) and even natural colour tint. Then you pour the adobe into forms, panels or in-situ walls to dry. The Hybrid Adobe dries in three days to three weeks and is then mortared into place with more Hybrid Adobe. It can be sheathed and plastered in hybrid or fibered adobe as well. Hybrid Adobe can also be used to create sculptures, garden walls, and furniture. It cuts easily with a saw once it is dry making sculpture and remodeling very easy. Hybrid Adobe is non-toxic, flexible for greater earthquake resistance, and fire-proof. Compressive strength tests range anywhere from 600 to 1800 psi for this family of materials (approx. 3-8 mva), depending on the blend. Tensile strength is extremely high due to the multi-directional nature of the paper fibers. Walls and panels can be reinforced with bamboo, supple-jack, red willow, or other fibres or with metal acting as reinforcing bar. Alternatively, smaller "bricks" or forms can be made. There is no waste as the material that falls to the ground can be remixed later. Walls can be left unsealed for maximum breathability or sealed with latex paint, milk paint, lime plasters, weatherseal or non-toxic materials such as linseed oil or prickly pear mucilage. Since Hybrid Adobe is so easy, cheap and insulative (a 12" wall is rated at R24-R33 depending on the blend), it is a perfect do-it-yourself material for home builders. Communities working together can easily complete a series of buildings, bush stairs and landscaping. A person working alone could build a small dome or insulated shed in a matter of weeks. Hybrid Adobe panels can also be applied to the interior or exterior of existing structures, insulating them. This gives the building a new aesthetic and improves structural strength while reducing the energy needlessly wasted on heating and cooling. Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:45:38 -0000 Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:20:57 -0000 Hybrid Adobe http://images.hybridadobe.multiply.com/logo http://hybridadobe.multiply.com 100 100 Wow Earth Ovens These photos taken with permission from a book give you some great ideas of sculptural ovens you may try building with Hybrid adobe. Check it http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/links/item/1/Wow_Earth_Ovens Mon, 12 Feb 2007 23:20:57 -0000 NATURAL BUILDING INTERNSHIP PROGRAMMES IN NORTH AMERICA Our (northern hemisphere) summer internship programmes continue in the stunning Four Corners region of Southwestern Colorado, USA.  Join us during the perfect cool September weather (and October color changes) for an extended hands-on learning programme on an actual Hybrid Adobe structure.   Learn building, remodeling, insulating, design, materials, procedures, plastering, applications, recipes and much more!  Jeff Adams, former director of the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (at Humboldt State University) will lead the Permaculture/Alternative Energy courses. Open dates (according to your schedule): Ongoing from 15 September -- 8 October…with a break during Sept. 21--26 to enjoy hiking in stunning Canyonlands National Park (or the wilds of Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado).   A 2-day donation project on the reservation will fit into this programme and you are welcome to come down and meet the Navajo elders.   Please join the programme when it ... http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/journal/item/4/_NATURAL_BUILDING_INTERNSHIP_PROGRAMMES_IN_NORTH_AMERICA Fri, 11 Aug 2006 01:13:00 -0000 Valley Retreat are Hosting a Workshop on Vaastu Shastra     Vaastu Shastra  The ancient Indian science of house design for peace, prosperity and profit. <h1 style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;" align="center">with</h1> Shashikirian Vaze   A well known Vastu Shastra expert from Mumbai, India is currently visiting New Zealand.   Shashikiran is usually based in Mumbai (Bombay) in India but regularly travels all over the world for consultations, seminars and workshops Apart from India he has a growing base of clients in the USA, South Africa, Singapore, New Zealand as well as Mauritius.   The  Vedic Art of Healthy Building – Vastushastra is the Vedic knowledge or principles for construction of structure or an establishment. It evolved some 5000 years ago in India, much before Feng Shui. The word "Vastu" is derived from Sankrit verb 'vas' means 'to dwell' . Vastu means the site or structure and the word "Shastra" means the Science or knowledge or principles.   In the Vedic period, people built homes, temples and ... http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/journal/item/3/Valley_Retreat_are_Hosting_a_Workshop_on_Vaastu_Shastra Wed, 5 Jul 2006 00:09:34 -0000 Hybrid Adobe Information Sessions Dates and Times Find out what all the fuss is about! 6 Information sessions will be held next week! Book Now! Thursday Evening 1st June 6 - 8pm at the Sustainability Centre in New Lynn, Auckland (4 Olympic Place, behind the BP on the roundabout) Please call to hold your place 09 826-0555. $10 Friday 2nd June - Hamilton - Time, Price and Location on request, please call 027 63 77 005 Saturday 3rd June - Community Hall,South Titirangi Road, Titirangi Auckland (time will depend on attendee requests - please call 02111 92521) $10 Sunday the 4th June 4 - 6pm in Raglan at the Sustainability Centre. $8 Tuesday 6th June in Taupo, Time and Location on request please call 027 63 77 005 - $ FREE Sunday 11th June at Wellspring Retreat, Turangi, Lake Taupo: A full-day hands-on seminar/workshop costs $90 (discounts available for students, and those renting on low-income.) To book, call Philip or reply by sending a "personal message" via the button on your right. Look forward to seeing you there. http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/journal/item/2/Hybrid_Adobe_Information_Sessions_Dates_and_Times Wed, 24 May 2006 10:13:52 -0000 NEW INTERNSHIP / WORKSHOPS - JUNE 2006 ! NEW INTERNSHIP / WORKSHOPS for JUNE 2006 Our final NZ programmes in Natural Building, Landscaping and Sculpture will take place in the Lake Taupo area. Open dates between: 7 June – 18 June, 2006. One-day workshop only: 11 June, 2006. $90 The learning programme includes lodging and most meals at Wellspring and costs only $100 per night. We prefer the programme to be taken for 3 nights or more anytime between 7 June and 18 June depending on your schedule and availability. Day visits are possible at $60 per day. Five nights cost $475 and the full programme of 7 nights costs $650. Two scholarships are available (please request in writing). Please contact us in advance as we have limited places, and they are disappearing quickly! Come when you can, but the programme will fillup so please contact Philip to reserve your place: 027 63 77 005 or Philip@hybridadobe.com Get hands-on experience in Natural Building, landscaping and sculpture with Hybrid Adobe... http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/calendar/item/10001/NEW_INTERNSHIP_WORKSHOPS_-_JUNE_2006_ Mon, 15 May 2006 23:11:06 -0000 Testimonials & Press Releases WHAT'S BEEN SAID ABOUT THESE WORKSHOPS? (published in the Pacific Sun newspaper, Marin, California, 10 Feb., 2002) Best Bets "It's more fun than making mud pies. It can create charming houses and garden structures. It can be sculpted into wild art. It recycles. It's quick and low-labor, easy enough for clutzy, amateur builders (that's me). It's Hybrid Adobe. Simple, elegant, and dirt cheap, Hybrid Adobe and its brother, papercrete, are on the cutting edge of green building techniques. If you've ever dreamed of your own cob or strawbale palace, you must check this out first." --Mary Dedanan, Pacific Sun newspaper, 11 March, 2002 What Participants in Our Workshops and Seminars are Saying I very much want to thank you both for last weekend and the wonderful possibilities that you've introduced me to. I strongly look to the present to unfold in great and 'magical' ways and am immensely grateful for the connection we have created and will be growing between ourselves, our fin... http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/reviews/item/1 Mon, 15 May 2006 23:04:04 -0000 BUILD A LEGAL STRUCTURE WITHOUT PERMITS/CONSENTS BUILD A LEGAL STRUCTURE WITHOUT PERMITS/CONSENTS THIS SUSTAINABLE BUILDING PROGRAMME WILL CREATE EARTH-FRIENDLY SLEEPOUTS AND LANDSCAPING Learn how by joining us at beautiful Wellspring, near Lake Taupo, or come to one of the book signings and presentations to be held in Auckland, Raglan, Taupo and Hamilton. CONTACT: Email philip@hybridadobe.com or philipmirkin@hotmail.com or Taimi Allan at thelovespreaders@yahoo.co.nz Ring/text: Philip (027) 63 77 005 Our final NZ hands-on building project happens 7-18 June (come when you can on your schedule). Together we will build a lovely (under 10 sq. meter) structure from start to finish. Learn how to build low-cost structures by actually creating one. Join the author of the “Hybrid Adobe Handbook”, who developed this material. Evening seminars will offer an introduction to Hybrid Adobe designs, procedures and more, with dozens of photographs of existing projects. We will also give details about the Taupo building project and how to get in... http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/journal/item/1/BUILD_A_LEGAL_STRUCTURE_WITHOUT_PERMITSCONSENTS Mon, 15 May 2006 22:58:33 -0000 Hybrid Adobe Sample Photo's Here is just a small selection of photographs showing what can be done with Hybrid Adobe. From small sculptures to large buildings, HA is the most adaptable, sustainable building material available http://hybridadobe.multiply.com/photos/album/1/Hybrid_Adobe_Sample_Photos Mon, 15 May 2006 01:35:42 -0000