Earth USA 2013

The Seventh Conference

Date: October 4, 5 and 6, 2013
Location: New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Organizer: Adobe in Action

About Earth USA 2013

Earth USA 2013 was the Seventh International Conference on Architecture and Construction with Earthen Materials initiated by Earth USA. The conference organizer was Adobe in Action. The formal conference took place from Friday, October 4 to Sunday, October 6, 2013 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The conference was held at the New Mexico Museum of Art in the St. Francis Auditorium (107 West Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501).

Earth USA 2013 indicated a wider field of interest than previous conferences and included adobe, rammed earth, compressed earth block (CEB) and monolithic adobe (cob). Any material or method that uses clay as a binder was considered. Approximately 140 participants came from 18 countries and presented papers and posters on various aspects of earthen construction. The countries and US states represented were Bulgaria, India, Nepal, Columbia, Ghana, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Bangladesh, Nigeria, France, Iran, South Sudan, Pakistan, Italy, UK and the USA (Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Carolina, Louisiana, Arizona, Oregon, California).

Paper Subject Categories

Historic buildings and cities including their stabilization, preservation and conservation
Social and cultural elements fostered by earthen building practices and traditions
Construction methods
Education and information transfer including codes, norms and regulations
Physical and thermal properties of materials and structures including seismic, flood and storm resistance
Passive solar heating and cooling of earthen buildings
Earthen structures in commerce, industry, agriculture and energy production
New architecture and construction projects including renovation, modernization and re-purposing of existing buildings

Earth 2013 Trade Fair Participants

Booth 1: Adobe in Action (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
A 501c3 non-profit organization promoting adobe as the answer to sustainable and affordable housing for low-income families. Adobe in Action also provides adobe construction education for the benefit of community development and cultural enrichment and preservation.

Booths 2 & 3: EARTHinBLOCKS (Takoma Park, Maryland)
The EARTHinBLOCKS® machine weighs 2,000 lbs and is built on a rolling trailer that can be hauled by truck or SUV and can be converted to a portable workstation. Our machine compresses tongue-in-groove blocks of consistently identical height and width. It can also be operated by 1 person or set up production for a crew. EIB’s machine is engineered to work in difficult, harsh environments.

Booth 4: Pat Taylor Inc. (Mesilla, New Mexico)
Specializing in historic preservation & earthen buildings, mud & lime plasters, assessments, stabilization, preservation, restoration, training.

Booth 5: Builders Without Borders & Black Range Lodge (Kingston, New Mexico)
Builders Without Borders is an international network of ecological architects and builders who advocate empowering communities to build with local, affordable materials. BWB is headquartered in Kingston, NM at the Black Range Lodge, an historic B&B and center for natural building and healthy living.

Booth 6: New Mexico Earth Works (Santa Fe/Las Cruces, New Mexico)
Adobe and compressed earth block construction, earth and lime plastering, residential, commercial, and historic.

Booth 7: PK Works, LLC (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Design, restoration and custom architectural elements for your historic or contemporary home.

Booth 8: OU College of Architecture (Norman, Oklahoma)
At the University of Oklahoma College of Architecture, collaboration is fostered at every level. From entry-level interdisciplinary courses to leading advanced competition teams, every division has curricula that encourages teamwork and cooperation among faculty, students and other disciplines for stronger development. By creating a unique collaborative atmosphere and strong student organizations, as well as providing professional industry interactions and state-of-the-art facilities, the College of Architecture gives every student the opportunity to learn the skills needed to become a leader in their discipline.

Booth 9: Green Fire Times (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
News and Views from the Sustainable Southwest

Booth 10: SFCC: New Mexico Energy$mart Academy (Santa Fe, New Mexico)

Booth 11: Druc Engineering LLC (Santa Fe, New Mexico)

Booth 12: The Earthbuilders' Guild (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
The Earthbuilders’ Guild is an organization dedicated to the Betterment & Advancement of Earthen Construction of homes and commercial buildings. We invite you to join us in this mission of preserving and promoting the age old building methods of adobe, rammed earth and compressed earth block construction.

Booth 13: Seven Directions | Cultural and Sustainable Tours (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Seven Directions offers sustainable custom cultural tours of Santa Fe, NM, and the Southwestern USA.

Booth 14: Cornerstones Community Partnerships (Santa Fe, New Mexico)
Cornerstones is a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit historic preservation organization located in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Our projects have been based in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, California, and in many states of the Mexican Frontera.

Booth 15: New Mexico Earth Adobes & Earth Builders Tools (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Since our inception in 1972, New Mexico Earth Adobes has grown into one of the largest adobe yards in the world. Our production approaches half a million adobes a year and with the modesty that comes from such back breaking labor, we claim to have made well over 15 million adobes.

Booth 16: Native American Housing Consultants, LLC (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
Native American Housing Consultants is an Indian-owned firm since 1996. NAHC's services include both residential and commercial design/build construction, construction management, home inspection and assessment, design, grant writing, training and consulting. NAHC's mission is to provide both economical and professional housing services to the Native American community and to ensure these communities have access to safe, quality and affordable housing.

Earth USA 2013 - Tours

Earth USA 2013 organized two days of tours to local earthbuilding sights of interest for conference participants and guests. The first tour was a walking tour which took place directly after the conference on Sunday afternoon, October 6. The second tour was a bus tour which took place all day Monday, October 7, 2013. Both tours began and ended at the the New Mexico Art Museum in downtown Santa Fe.

Sunday Afternoon Walking Tour of Santa Fe

Date: Sunday, October 6, 2013
Time: 2:00pm to 6:00pm
Tour Stops: Historic adobe buildings in downtown Santa Fe
Starting/Ending Point: New Mexico Museum of Art
Tour Guide: Jake Barrow, Cornerstones Community Partnerships
Price: $20

Route and Approximate Times:
2pm: walking tour group meets in front of the New Mexico Museum of Art
2 to 3pm: Hewitt House, The Palace of the Governors, La Casa Sena
3 to 4:30pm: St. Francis Cathedral Basilica, La Fonda Hotel, The Oldest House, Tour of San Miguel Mission
4:30 to 5:30pm: walk from San Miguel Mission to Canyon Road, visit El Zaguán House and Gardens
5:30 to 6pm: walk back to Plaza or enjoy a refreshment at the famous El Farol Restaurant and Bar on Canyon Road (not included in tour price)

Monday Tour to Ohkay Owingeh and Taos Pueblo

Date: Monday, October 7, 2013
Time: 8:30am to 5:30pm
Tour Stops: Ohkay Owingeh, Taos Pueblo (and various earthbuilding sights of interest in between)
Starting/Ending Point: New Mexico Museum of Art
Tour Guides: Quentin Wilson, Shawn Evans
Price: $80 - Click here to purchase!

Route and Approximate Times:
8:30am: bus arrives at New Mexico Museum of Art to pick up tour participants
8:30 to 10:30am: drive North to Taos Pueblo
10:30 to 12:00 noon: tour of Taos Pueblo
12:00 noon to 1:30pm: lunch break in Taos
1:30 to 2:30pm: drive South to Ohkay Owingeh
2:30 to 3:30pm: tour of Ohkay Owingeh led by Shawn Evans AIA, Associate - Atkin Olshin Schade Architects
3:30 to 4:00pm: drive South to POEH Cultural Center and Museum
4:00 to 5:00pm: tour of exterior of POEH Cultural Center and Museum
5:00 to 5:30pm: return drive to Santa Fe, drop off at New Mexico Museum of Art

Earth USA 2013 - Conference Schedule

Friday, October 4, 2013

9:00 AM
Registration and check-in in museum lobby
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Friday AM Poster Session + Welcome Coffee in East Sculpture Garden
Scott Williams (Oklahoma, USA): "Earthen Plaster Failure of a Compressed Earth Block Garden Wall"
Georgi Georgiev (Bulgaria): "Earth as a Decoration Material"
Kandya Anurag (India): "Innovations in Green Building Construction: Revisiting Compressed Earth as a Constructional Material"
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Podium Welcome by Quentin Wilson
10:20 – 10:40 AM
Nripal Adhikary (Nepal)
"Making Bamboo And Earth a Mainstream Material in Nepal"
10:40 – 11:00 AM
Lucia Esperanza Garzon (Columbia)
"Casa Supitina - analisis post ocupacion y resultados de las transferencias tecnologicas"
11:00 - 11:20 AM
Anthony Yaw Owusu (Ghana)
"The influence of Sudano-Sahelian architecture and Islam on the Palace of the King of Wa (Wa Na) in Northern Ghana"
11:20 – 11:40 AM
Bill Druc (New Mexico, USA)
"How Partnership, Teamwork and State–of–the-Art Structural Engineering Come Together to Restore and Rebuild Four Historic Buildings in the Santa Fe New Mexico Area"
11:40 – 12:00 NOON
Lisa Holliday PhD - with Chris Ramseyer PhD, Michael Frame (Oklahoma, USA)
"Shear Strength of Compressed Earth Block Walls"
12:00 – 12:20 PM
Francisco Javier Soria López - with Luis Fernando Guerrero Baca, Rubén Salvador Roux Gutiérrez (Mexico)
"Alternative Earth Building Techniques and Their Experimental Application"
12:20 - 1:40 PM
Lunch Break
1:40 - 2:00 PM
Mabel Cristina Cuellar-Azcarate - with Fabio Matta, Ece Erdogmus, Esther Obonyo (South Carolina, USA)
"Earth Blocks with Recycled Plastic Reinforcement for Damage Tolerance against Flying Debris from Extreme Winds" + "Engineered Earth Block Masonry Dwellings for Tornado Resistance"
2:00 – 2:20 PM
Luis Armendáriz (Mexico)
"Restoring the Quinta Carolina: Mud and Stone as Tokens of Splendor"
2:20 – 2:40 PM
Dr. Horst Schroeder (Germany)
"The New DIN Standards in Earth Building – the Current Situation in Germany"
2:40 – 3:00 PM
Shawn Evans and Daniel Barboa - with Jamie Blosser (New Mexico, USA)
"Owe’neh Bupingeh Rehabilitation Project: Challenging the Norms of Affordable Housing and Historic Preservation"
3:00 – 3:20 PM
Bart Kaltenbach - with Barbara Anschel (New Mexico, USA)
"The Past Informs the Future: Earth Building in the Desert Southwest"
3:20 – 3:40 PM
Marcy Frantom - with Max Turner (Louisiana, USA)
"Historical French Earth Architecture at the Cane River National Heritage Area in Northwest Louisiana: Efforts to Understand and Conserve the Past"
3:40 - 4:20 PM
Friday PM Poster Session + Coffee Break in East Sculpture Garden
Arq. Barbara Ayub Francis - with Dr. J. Rodrigo González López , Dr. César A. Juárez Alvarado (Mexico): "Impact of Particle Size Distribution and Compaction Force on the Mechanical Strength of Compressed Earth Elements"
Cade Hayes (Arizona, USA): "Tucson Mountain Retreat"
Lisa Holliday PhD - with Daniel Butko, Aaron Crandall (Oklahoma, USA): "Results of Student Compressed Earth Block Research"
4:20 – 4:40 PM
Mark Chalom (New Mexico, USA)
"Post Evaluation of a Passive Solar Adobe Hybrid as if Carbon Mattered"
4:40 - 5:00 PM
Izaskun Villena Marcos (Spain)
"Actions by the City Council of Cuenca de Campos on Earth Building and Restorers an Example in Tierra de Campos, Castile and Leon, Spain"
5:00 - 5:20 PM
Ed Crocker (New Mexico, USA)
"Deep-Sixing the Standards: Two Case Studies from New Mexico, USA"
5:20 - 5:40 PM
Bianca de Abreu Negreiros - with Edna Moura Pinto, Cintia Vieira, Alain Henrique de Souza (Brazil)
"Rammed Earth Homes Built in Northeast Brazil as an Emergency Housing Policy"
5:40 - 6:00 PM
Albert Narath (Oregon, USA)
"The Architecture of Performance"
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Friday Evening Social Event in East Sculpture Garden

Saturday, October 5, 2013

9:00 AM
Registration and check-in in museum lobby
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Saturday AM Poster Session + Welcome Coffee in East Sculpture Garden
Moshiur Rahman Misu Shah (Bangladesh): "Green materials (Cement-mud block) for rural low- income housing fair with Environment"
Prof. Vinod Ratilala Shah - with Mr. Mihir Vora, Ms Priyanka Gosha (India): "Rammed Earth with Rice Husk Ash and Fly Ash, a Techno Feasibility Analysis for a Sustainable Building Material"
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Ernestina Fuenmayor (Oregon, USA)
"Cacao Hacienda Buildings in Choroni, Venezuela: Shaped by the Response of the Agricultural Functions"
10:20 – 10:40 AM
Juan Manuel Casillas Pintor (Mexico)
"Traditional Earth Building Techniques in Contemporary Mexican Architecture: Appropriate Solutions for Social Housing"
10:40 – 11:00 AM
Charles Graham PhD (Oklahoma, USA)
"Use of Photometric Analyses for Determining Workmanship in Compressed Earth Block Mortars"
11:00 - 11:20 AM
Nancy Happe PhD (New Mexico, USA)
"A Global Look at Modern Rammed Earth: An Economist’s Perspective"
11:20 – 11:40 AM
Daniel Butko - with Lisa Holliday PhD, Holly Snow (Oklahoma, USA)
"The Permit Process - Student involvement with CEB energy compliance and construction documents"
11:40 – 12:00 NOON
Francisco Uviña - with María Rinaldi
"Conservation, Preservation and Rehabilitation of Earthern Architecture as a Youth Development Program"
12:00 – 12:20 PM
Fred Webster - with Pat Taylor (California/New Mexico, USA)
"Wall Thickness and Height-to-Thickness Ratios and the Seismic Performance of Adobe Walls"
12:20 - 1:40 PM
Lunch Break
1:40pm - 2:00 PM
Anthony Maduabum (Nigeria)
"Low Cost Housing Using Clay Blocks: A Review of the Compressed Stabilised Earth Block Project in Awka, Nigeria"
2:00 – 2:20 PM
Joseph F. Kennedy (California, USA)
"Challenges and Opportunities for Earthbuilding in South Africa"
2:20 – 2:40 PM
Nasim Shareqiboroujeni - with Nazanin Modaresahmadi
"Modifying vernacular houses plans in Kilaneh village based on occupational activities and duty delegation system between family members"
2:40 – 3:00 PM
Matthew Reyes - with Stephen Curtis, Michael Frame, Holly Snow (Oklahoma, USA)
"Partnering with Habitat for Humanity on the Construction of a CEB House"
3:00 – 3:20 PM
Elsa Ricaud (France)
"Earth Heritage in the United States : A History from Below"
3:20 – 4:00 PM
Saturday PM Poster Session + Coffee Break in East Sculpture Garden
Faranak Zaimi (Iran): "Wind catcher, the Symbol of Iranian Architecture"
Wilfrido Martinez Molina - with Jose Luis Ruvalcaba Sil, Elia Mercedes Alonso Guzman, Hugo Luis Chavez Garcia, Cindy Lara Gomez, Juan Alberto Bedolla Arroyo (Mexico): "The change in the aesthetic surfaces of stabilized clays form Morelia, Mexico"
4:00 - 4:20 PM
Jake Barrow - with Kurt Gardella, Pat Taylor, Anne Galer, Sean Kaltenbach, Helen Levine, Fred Webster, Randy Skeirik, Quentin Wilson (New Mexico, USA)
"Curriculum Development and Certification for Adoberos in New Mexico"
4:20 – 4:40 PM
Chris Rollins - with John Thon (Juba, South Sudan)
"Earthblocks in the Sudd: Finding Solutions in Unlikely Terrain"

Sunday, October 6, 2013

9:00 AM
Registration and check-in in museum lobby
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Sunday AM Poster Session + Welcome Coffee in East Sculpture Garden
Clarissa Armando dos Santos - with Lisiane Ilha Librelotto, Aniara Bellina Hoffmann, Aline de Melo Nascimento and Fernando dos Santos Almeida (Brazil): "Disaster
Relief Architecture in Brazil - Developing a T-Shelter Based on Earth Building Standards"
Mojdeh Bolorizadeh (Oregon, USA): "Life Cycle Views on Mud Brick Architecture and Agriculture in Yazd, Iran"
Anyul Minerva Arlette Cuellar Lopez - with Wilfrido Martinez Molina, Jose Luis Ruvalcaba Sil, Elia Mercedes Alonso Guzman, Juan Alberto Bedolla Arroyo, Jorge Quiroz Rosales (Mexico): "Constructive technology of the Epiclassic period mortars in the basin of the medium Lerma River, Mexico"
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Dr. Abdul Aziz Ansari - with Dr. Ghous Bux Khaskhely (Pakistan)
"Innovation of Reinforced Earth as Building Material"
10:20 – 10:40 AM
Clarissa Armando dos Santos - with Lisiane Ilha Librelotto, Claudio Rocha dos Santos Jacintho (Brazil)
"Earth Buildings in Brazil – The Most Popular Raw Earth Building Techniques, Costs and Post-Occupation Survey"
10:40 – 11:00 AM
Silvia Briccoli Bati - with Mario Fagone, Federica Loccarini, Giovanna Ranocchiai (Italy)
"Mechanical behavior of structural elements in rammed earth reinforced with jute fabric"
11:00 - 11:20 AM
Mojdeh Bolorizadeh - with Sahar Bagheri (Oregon, USA)
"The Potential of Adobe Construction against Seismic Forces"
11:20 – 11:40 AM
Fionn McGregor - with Andrew Heath, Enrico Fodde (UK)
"Experimentally measured effect of earth building material properties on moisture buffering capacity"
11:40 – 12:00 NOON
Ikechukwu Onyegiri - with Joseph O. Diogu (Nigeria)
"Evaluation of Compressed Stabilised Earth Constructed Residential Buildings in Imo State, Nigeria"
12:00 – 12:20 PM
Eric Liefeld and Dr. David Rockstraw PhD. - with Dr. Sonya Cooper, PhD and Gregg Henry (New Mexico, USA)
"Understanding, Detecting, Measuring, and Remediating Salt Attack (Salt Weathering) in Adobe and Earthen Structures"
12:20 - 1:40 PM
Lunch Break
2:00 – 6:00 PM
Walking Tour of Santa Fe Adobe Sites

Monday, October 7, 2013

9:00 - 6:00 PM
Tour to Ohkay Owingeh and Taos Pueblo