How India Taught Me as Much as Eat, Pray, Love Had Promised
In the summer of 2019, I had the opportunity to travel through India to learn more about the amazing work being done with alternative materials in the construction industry. I traveled to Mumbai (also known as Bombay), Hyderabad and Eco-township Auroville.
Mumbai filled me with crowded train rides, incredible food and ocean views. I cannot recommend this city of 18.4 million people enough! It was wild and beautiful.
In Hyderabad I had the opportunity to see the first pilot from Eco-Shelter. Eco-Shelter is a female-led social enterprise manufacturing corrugated bamboo roof sheets for rural communities throughout India. Asbestos is the most common roof material in India and the cause of over 100,000 deaths a year due to exposure (CNBC 2014).
In May of 2019 they installed their first pilot project to test the comfortability of the home post installation. Using arduinos they have been able to track the change in temperature within the home and after one year they will investigate the change in health of the consumers.
The new roof kept their home dry during the rain, cool during the heat and made them proud of their home.
Finally, I went to Auroville which provides an international hands-on workshop about building with stabilized earth and bamboo, which was held August 5 - 9, 2019. Auroville hosts ecological leaders from all over the world to develop solutions to the world's most difficult problems, including disaster resistant housing. The workshop was held by Auroville's Green Practices partnered with the Earth Institute and Bamboo Center to share building techniques and methods.
Check out my detailed notes to learn more about building with adobe, cob, CSEB, rammed earth, rubble stone, and bamboo.
Download the full manual to learn how to build with Rammed Earth, Compressed Stabilized Earth Blocks, Adobe, and Bamboo.
Compressed Earth Block Machine, Manual Press built and used by the Earth Institute - Auroville, India
