Modern House (click to enlarge)
Specifications: 840 sq. ft. interior plus 390 sq. ft. upper floor, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, home office or bonus room, Footprint: 31′ x 33′
Description: A stunning 30’wide by 2-story window wall faces the mountains, lake or other view. A large grow bed provides year-round growing space for flowers, dwarf fruit trees, tomatoes, herbs and other plants.
Modern House (click to enlarge)
Modern House Upper Floor (click to enlarge)
Earthbag House Plans 
Note: this design is for latitudes relatively far from the equator. I will custom design the necessary changes to prevent overheating if you live closer to the equator.
How do you think it would do in South Mississippi? 😀 We are currently looking at this one and the Chonburi.. both would need design tweeks but my younger brother & I have had some architecture experience. 😀
froginstitches.blogspot.com
It would work fine except it would need a roof overhang at mid-height like the Mountain Cottage: https://earthbagplans.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/mountain-cottage/
That is kinna what I was thinking.. Thanks! 😀 I’ll let you know if we ever actually get to build one 😀
Could this work in an Ontario winter (i don;t see a wood stove!)? And – would modifying to one story significantly save on building costs?
You could add a wood stove next to the stairs. Building with straw bales would give you great insulation value. One story would cut the cost way down and improve energy efficiency (the heat would stay on one level).
Hi Owen,
I’ve messaged you before about this design, and my wife and I still find it very sutiable to our needs. We are planning a smaller project, a tool-shed/workshop, for a trainer project, but I had a few questions about this design.
Following along the lines of the wood stove question above, is it feasible for this house to be comfortable using only a wood stove and passive solar heat through a winter in southern Indiana, USA? I can see where it could be difficult to find space in this design for a stove’s exhaust, and I’m also concerned that the south windows would suck heat out of the interior of that main open chamber on a cloudy day. We’d appreciate your thoughts on whether the house could be heated with a stove only…
Thanks for all your great work!
What’s shown is just a suggestion. You can adapt the design to your local conditions. You could use smaller windows, add a roof overhang at mid-height, add a large wood stove and possibly radiant floor heating. The stove (possibly a mass heater) could go on the south wall. Earthbags in Indiana will require insulation on the outside. You could add a sun space on the south side that will help moderate temperatures. That would look really good and provide year-round organic food.
Follow-up question: Would you recommend insulation for any EB building in Indiana, or just this design? I was hoping the thermal properties of the walls would be enough here for us here in the Ohio River Valley, since insulating the outside seems like a costly proposition, if not a deal-breaker. Thanks, again…
You need insulation on the outside or the walls will get too cold.
Just for further clarification, would any EB building need insulation or just this design?
Any high mass wall such as earthbag, adobe, stone, etc. needs outer insulation in cold climates. 2″ is common.
What is used to insulate EBs from the outside? Commercial products? Living in southern Illinois I suppose that would apply to me also. Do you know of any natural and/or affordable options?
I would have to say this is my dream home. I’m trying to get a better idea of how much it will cost to build. Is timber framing needed for this plan? That would make it less DIY for us. Thanks
Insulated earthbag houses: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Build-an-Insulated-Earthbag-House/
The fastest, easiest way is to cover the outside with 2″ of foam board.
Post and beam has lots of advantages. Search our blog: http://naturalbuildingblog.com/
Here’s the most common method. Anyone can do this, and it makes it easy to get a building permit, work under the protection of a roof, etc. http://naturalbuildingblog.com/2012/03/24/post-and-beam-hardware/
Cost: You have to do your own cost estimate using local prices.
Honestly, I had cleared land and was ready to break ground on an EB workshop/lean-to until the discussion about insulation came up. My plans are on hold now while I think about the issue. I wonder how much of the need for insulation is based on perfomance of actual homes in climates like the US Midwest and how much is based on assumptions? I’ve read accounts of EB homes built in Alaska, Michigan, Kentucky, and other cold-ish climates and none of them appear to be insulated, but they also don’t offer much insight on the house’s performance while inhabited.
It would seem to me that capturing passive solar and burning a wood stove would be enough to get you through the 6-8 weeks/yr of really cold weather here in Indiana. There’s just something about the idea of having to add an additional layer of insulation that makes building with bags seem silly for people in moderately cold regions. Might as well go with strawbales?
Plus, how would you plaster it?
Insulating the exterior is standard procedure for adobe houses in colder climates. I’ll let you google that for the details. They plaster right over the insulation no problem.
No insulation in cold climates (depending on severity) can be like living in a cave. The stove would have to work like crazy to offset thick cold walls. This is basic building science. Add a layer of insulation (there’s nothing silly about it) and then the mass will store heat and work in your favor.
Strawbale is another good building method. Just be aware that there have been reports of mold in humid climates up in your area. Good design can greatly lower the risk of mold, but it’s good to be aware of this from the get go.
I really love the design and setup of this house. I am a veteran and plan on using my VA Loan to build a house. So I have a few questions. Do you know if the VA will give loans on houses made of sandbags? Also how much would it roughly cost to purchase all the materials and have contractors build this home? And would this home be suitable in West Texas where the temperatures reach over 110 degrees in the summer? Thanks for all your help 🙂
You should be able to get earthbag accepted once you have engineering approval. However, it would likely be much easier to build with straw bales since the VA is already familiar with this type of construction. Either way you need a local licensed engineer or architect to stamp the plans.
The Modern House would work great as long as you add a roof overhang at half height to shade the lower windows.
Cost: You’ll have to make a spreadsheet (cost estimate) using local prices in your area since prices vary considerably.