Resources

Cheap Sustainable Buildings
Earthbag Walls Earthbag Info Slideshows: 1, 2, 3, 4
Different Earthen Walls need different materials, climate, equipment and skills- coming soon
Structural Block Walls Adobe, CEB (compressed earth block), ICEB (interlocking CEB): Brittle unless interlocking and often built on reinforced concrete (RC) footings.
Structural Stone Walls Through-stones or reinforcement important. Usually built on RC footings.
Structural Monolithic Walls Rammed earth, Cob, Puddled adobe: Brittle except cob, usually reinforced and built on RC footings.

Basics to Build with Earth
Ask local officials what building code applies. Earth building codes for adobe and other techniques exist in some states and are under development for the IBC in general. Code for New Zealand includes structural information.
Types of Soil for Earthen Walls Check soil type by touch Comparing soil for adobe, cob, rammed earth, CEB, earthbag
How Strong is My Soil? Quick strength estimates for building soil using simple tools
Check Your Seismic Risk BSI estimate maps Learn more about risk metrics or go directly to web info for the US, Europe, Australia

Resilient CE Earthbag Construction How-To
Basic Details Low-cement CE for low seismic risk areas (<0.6 g at 10% pe)
Moderate Strength Details Standard CE with interconnected corners on spot footings (>0.6 g)
High Strength Details Continuous footings and fully connected steel- coming soon

Designing Safe Earthen Buildings
Basics of Stable Building Plans Compact, symmetrical, small openings- coming soon
Enough Bracing Walls? New Zealand's non-engineered code checks plans for moderate or high risk for some materials (pp. 44- 54, 110- 122).
High Strength Plans Get engineering help or email for information