GEIGER RESEARCH INSTITUTE of SUSTAINABLE BUILDING

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 The Last Straw -
 The International  Journal of Straw  Bale and Natural  Building



- Promoting natural building, and sustainable design and development, through research, training, education and consulting services.
What's New

Ecological Building Network - Straw Bale Testing
A key ASTM fire test on straw bale walls, that should help mainstream strawbale construction, was successfully completed in July by the Ecological Building Network (EBN). (Follow the orange links to watch the free video.) The fire test compliments a whole range of recent strawbale structural tests by EBN, all of which are available on their website.

Free Adobe, CEB, Straw-Clay and Bamboo Information
The New Mexico building codes for straw-clay, compressed earth block and adobe have been added to our Publications page, along with the new ICC bamboo codes.

Tsunami Relief Housing Design Project
The Geiger Research Institute has created a design team to address the severe housing shortages caused by the December 2004 tsunami in SE Asia. Volunteers are needed in two areas: NGO contacts in the region, and graphic art. Email us from our Contact page for more information.

Update 3/02/06:
The second round of CAD drawings have been completed by Katje Sana Erickson of Delta Third Design: http://www.deltathird.com. Pictures will be posted here soon.

Click here to read the preliminary report.

Click here to view the drawings.

Dr. Lisa Wipplinger, P.E., S.E. with the US Military Academy at West Point is finalizing the engineering. Her specialty is seismic and hurricane engineering design. The Academy is conducting engineering tests to ensure accurate results. Test results are due by May, 2006.

Architects and newlyweds Diego and Daniella Lastres are the latest team members. Their efforts have been instrumental in developing an exciting bamboo design that is nearing completion. Images will be posted soon.

Free Emergency Shelter Plans for Pakistan
Free shelter plans have been developed to meet the housing crisis in Pakistan: Shelter Plans, Earthbag Dome Building. More information is posted on our November 5 blog.

Elimination of Poverty Housing
Dr. Owen Geiger has spent his life searching for affordable housing solutions, and unveiled the first comprehensive plan to eliminate poverty housing at two recent events:

- August 14-15, 2005 in Pine Ridge, South Dakota: Sustainable Nations.org Sustainable Development and Technology workshop.

- September 3, 2005 in Crestone, Colorado: Renewable Energy Fair, 2-3 pm.

Dr. Geiger is calling for a Global Housing Initiative to address the unprecedented level of homelessness and substandard housing. His proposal is designed to mesh with the Millennium Project – the United Nations' ambitious program to cut poverty in half by 2015 and eliminate extreme poverty in our lifetime. Contact us if you are interested in future presentations.


GEIGER RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDING
Crestone, Colorado 81131 Email: Contact Information