Earth USA 2015

The Eighth Conference

Date: October 2, 3 and 4, 2015
Location: New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Organizer: Adobe in Action

About Earth USA 2015

Earth USA 2015 was the Eighth 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 2 to Sunday, October 4, 2015 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. Sunday afternoon was dedicated to tours of local earthbuilding sights of interest. 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 2015 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 130 participants attended from 15 countries and presented papers and posters on various aspects of earthen construction. The countries represented at the conference were China, Japan, India, Germany, Canada, Norway, Italy, Mexico, UK, Spain, Mali, Iran, Ghana, France and the USA (Oklahoma, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, California, Kansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, North Carolina, Utah, Tennessee).

Earth USA 2015 - Activities

Three days of podium presentations and poster sessions on topics related to the current state of architecture and construction with earthen materials (Friday, October 2 to Sunday, October 4, 2015).
Friday evening Speaker Meet & Greet for all conference attendees sponsored by The Earthbuilders' Guild.
Tours to local earthbuilding sites of interest in and around Santa Fe, New Mexico on Sunday afternoon (October 4) and Monday to Wednesday, October 5, 6 & 7, 2015.
Pre and post-conference earthbuilding workshops were planned by Adobe in Action for late September and early October.

Earth USA 2015 - Tours

Earth USA 2015 organized 4 days of tours to local earthbuilding sights of interest for conference participants and attendees. The first tour was a 1/2 day walking tour which took place directly after the conference on Sunday afternoon, October 4. The second tour was a 3-day (2 night) bus tour to Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, an San Luis Valley Habitat for Humanity adobe project and Taos Pueblo. The bus tour took place from Monday, October 5 to Wednesday October 7, 2015. 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 4, 2015
Time: 2:00pm to 6:00pm
Tour Stops: Historic adobe buildings in downtown Santa Fe + a visit to a TEG member new construction adobe project
Starting/Ending Point: New Mexico Museum of Art
Tour Guides: Jake Barrow, Cornerstones Community Partnerships and The Earthbuilders' Guild
Price: free
Route and Times:
2pm: walking tour group meets in front of the New Mexico Museum of Art
2 to 3:30pm: tour of various historic adobe buildings in downtown Santa Fe with Cornerstone's Jake Barrow as tour guide (main focus will be on recent work done on the San Miguel Mission)
3:30 to 5:30pm: tour of TEG member Sean Kaltenbach's adobe restoration project in downtown Santa Fe (524 Alto Street)
5:30 to 6pm: walk back to Plaza or enjoy a refreshment with the group at a Santa Fe restaurant or bar (self pay)

3-Day Bus Tour to Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Alamosa Habitat for Humanity, Taos Pueblo

Dates: Monday, October 5 to Wednesday October 7, 2015
Times: 8am to 6pm each day
Tour Stops: Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Alamosa Habitat for Humanity, Taos Pueblo
Starting/Ending Point: New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Tour Guides: Quentin Wilson and others
Price: $500 per person in a shared double room, $625 per person in your own single room
Route and Times:

Bus leaves New Mexico Museum of Art at 8am on Monday, October 5, 2015 (beginning of tour)
Drive to Chaco Culture Natural Historic Park, New Mexico
Guided tour of Chaco Canyon with lunch break in the park
Drive from Chaco Canyon to Farmington, New Mexico for 1st overnight lodging
Dinner in Farmington on your own (not included in tour price)
Bus leaves Farmington on Tuesday, October 6 at 8am (beginning of day 2)
Drive to Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Guided tour of Mesa Verde National Park with lunch break in the park
Drive from Mesa Verde to Durango, Colorado for 2nd overnight lodging
Dinner in Durango on your own (not included in tour price)
Bus leaves Durango on Wednesday, October 7 at 8am (beginning of day 3)
Drive to Alamosa, Colorado for a guided tour of a San Luis Valley Habitat for Humanity adobe construction project
Lunch stop in Alamosa, Colorado (not included in tour price)
Drive from Alamosa, Colorado to Taos Pueblo for an afternoon guided tour
Bus leaves Taos Pueblo at approximately 4pm and returns to New Mexico Museum of Art at approximately 6pm on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 (end of tour)

Earth USA 2015 - Conference Schedule

Friday, October 2, 2015

9:00 AM
Registration and check-in in museum lobby
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Welcome Coffee in West Sculpture Garden
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Podium Welcome by Quentin Wilson
10:20 – 10:40 AM
Chad Kraus, Architect, AIA (Lawrence, KS, USA)
"The Mud Hut Rebirth, Part 1: A Once and Future Earthen Experiment"
10:40 – 11:00 AM
Chris Rollins, P.E. (Mali)
"Timbuktu, Old and New"
11:00 - 11:20 AM
Scott Williams (Norman, OK, USA)
"The Process and Challenges of Plastering Compressed Earth Block Walls with a "Revolving Door" Labor Force"
11:20 – 11:40 AM
William M. Druc, P.E. (Santa Fe, NM, USA)
"Critical Choices in Building Restoration, New Mexico Case Studies"
11:40 – 12:00 NOON
María del Rosario Velasco García (Peru)
Jorge Luis de Olarte Tristán
"Construcción con Tierra dentro del Ámbito Universitario. El Caso de la Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas."
12:00 – 1:30 PM
Lunch Break
1:40 - 2:00 PM
Eric Liefeld (Mesilla, NM, USA)
Pat Taylor
Fred Webster, PhD, P.E.Sonya Cooper, PhD, P.E.
"Saving the Nestor Armijo House"
2:00 – 2:20 PM
ZHANG Lei (People's Republic of China)
YANG Liu
LUO Yanfen
ZHU Sanpu
HE Jiantao
"Study on Structures and Absorbability of Stabilized Earth Building Materials"
2:20 – 2:40 PM
Simone Swan (Tucson, AZ, USA)
"Hassan Fathy: Modernist Prophet of Mudbrick"
2:40 – 3:00 PM
Anthony Yaw Owusu (Ghana)
"The Nubian Vault, a Panacea for Earth Roofs for the Sahel Region of Africa"
3:00 – 3:20 PM
Ali Ould Sidi (Mali)
"Local Community Participation in the Timbuktu Heritage Reconstruction Process"
3:20 – 3:40PM
Lara K. Davis (India)
"Auroville Earth Institute – School of Earthen Architecture"
3:40 - 4:20 PM
Friday PM Poster Session + Coffee Break in West Sculpture Garden
María del Rosario Velasco García (Peru)
"La Hacienda Jesuita De Santa Cruz De Lancha (PERÚ). Un Patrimonio Paisajístico y Constructivo en Vías de Desaparición"
4:20 – 4:40 PM
Horst Schroeder, PhD (Germany)
"Clay Boards and Panels – an Innovative Earth Building Product for Drywall Construction"
Note: paper will be presented by Kurt Gardella
4:40 - 5:00 PM
José Gerónimo Márquez (Abiquiu, NM, USA)
"La Capilla San José: A Northern New Mexico Adobe Chapel with an Adobe Vault and Second Roof"
5:00 - 5:20 PM
Nicole Kliebert (Santa Fe, NM, USA)
"Youth and Preservation"
5:20 - 5:40 PM
Lauran Unzueta (Canada)
"Fabric Remnants of a Forgotten Past: 19th-Century Earthen Architecture of South-central Ontario"
5:40 - 6:00 PM
John J. Morony (Del Rio, TX, USA)
"Texas Museum: Art, Architecture and Construction"
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Friday evening Speaker Meet & Greet in West Sculpture Garden for all conference attendees sponsored by The Earthbuilders' Guild

Saturday, October 3, 2015

9:00 AM
Registration and check-in in museum lobby
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Saturday AM Poster Session + Welcome Coffee in West Sculpture Garden
Chad Kraus, Architect, AIA (Lawrence, KS, USA)
Chloe Hosid
Abigail Davis
"Iron-Stabilized Ferrimagnetic Rammed Earth"
10:00 – 10:20 AM
Sukita Reay Crimmel (Portland, OR, USA)
James Thomson
"Earthen Floors for Modern Homes: Bringing More Earth Inside"
10:20 – 10:40 AM
Katy Blanchard (Youngsville, NM, USA)
"Installing a Gridded Adobe Floor – By Yourself"
10:40 – 11:00 AM
Audrey Liu (Alamosa, CO, USA)
Cynthia Arvidson
Quentin Wilson
"Building Houses, Building Hope: Habitat for Humanity Affiliates use Adobe"
11:00 - 11:20 AM
Giorgio Roffi, Architetto Jr (Italy)
Filippo Gurrieri, Architetto Jr
"Earth as Urbanization Method"
11:20 – 11:40 AM
HE Quan (People's Republic of China)
YANG Liu
HE Wenfang
LIU Jiaping
YANG Jingjing
"Combining Vernacular Wisdom with Modern Mechanised Techniques - a case study of a new earth house in Turpan, Xinjiang"
11:40 – 12:00 NOON
Daniel Butko (Norman, OK, USA)
"Isolating Earth - Side by Side Acoustical Comparison of Compressed Earth Block Walls to Traditional Wood-Framed Walls"
12:00 – 12:20 PM
Richard Levine Award
12:20 – 1:40 PM
Lunch Break
1:40 – 2:00 PM
Lisa Holliday, PE, PhD (Oklahoma City, OK, USA)
Chris Ramseyer, PE, PhD
"Reinforcing Compressed Earth Blocks with Geo-Fabric"
2:00 – 2:20 PM
Lynnette Widder (New York, NY, USA)
Laurie Widder
Gary Innocenti
"‘Just Add Earth kit’®: Mass Customizing Adobe Block Performance"
2:20 – 2:40 PM
Eric Liefeld (Mesilla, NM, USA)
David Rockstraw, PhD, P.E.
Gregg Henry
Pat Taylor
"Remediating Salt Attack in Adobe"
2:40 – 3:00 PM
Midori Yamada, Dr. Eng. (Japan)
Naoyuki Koshiishi, Dr. Eng.
"Fracture Behavior and Resistance Mechanisms of a Japanese Traditional Clay Wall on Bamboo Lathing When Subjected to Horizontal Forces"
3:00 – 3:20 PM
Jorge Calderon (Mexico)
"Earth in Modern USGBC LEED-Certified Buildings, Auditorio - Museo PetStar, Mexico"
3:20 – 4:00 PM
Saturday PM Poster Session + Coffee Break in West Sculpture Garden
Filippo Gurrieri, Architetto Jr (Italy)
Giorgio Roffi, Architetto Jr
"Earth 4 Earth: Communication and Union for the Earth with the Earth"
4:00 - 4:20 PM
Lina Gh. Yaqub (Cincinnati, OH, USA)
"Biomimicry in Mud Architecture"
4:20 – 4:40 PM
Satprem Maïni (India)
"26 Years of Applied Research in Stabilized Earth Technologies at the Auroville Earth Institute

Sunday, October 4, 2015

9:00 AM
Registration and check-in in museum lobby
9:00 – 9:45 AM
Welcome Coffee in West Sculpture Garden
10:00 – 10:20 AM
K. Ben Loescher, AIA (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
The Earthbuilders’ Guild
"The Earthbuilders’ Guild: Two Decades of Constructing an Earth Building Industry"
10:20 – 10:40 AM
Hauke Haupts (Norway)
"The History and Conservation of the Liland House at Singsås, Midtre Gauldal in Norway"
10:40 – 11:00 AM
HE Wenfang (People's Republic of China)
HE Quan
EN Li
ZHU Xinrong
"New Earthen Buildings in Turpan Xinjiang"
11:00 - 11:20 AM
Hyacinth Pinto, Architect (India)
"Mud Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent: From Tradition to Contemporary"
11:20 – 11:40 AM
Graham Hogan, AIA, LEED Green Associate, NCARB (Albuquerque, NM, USA)
"Aging with Earthen Architecture - Dream, Design and Realization"
11:40 – 12:00 NOON
Mostafa Arefhaghi (Iran)
Samane Barjasteh Delforooz
Rene M. Du Terroil
"Adobe Architecture Technology in Iran, Linkage to the History of Nature No. 1 Case Study - Iranian ASBAD (Windmills) and KHARKHANE (Thorn House)"
12:00 – 12:20 PM
James Hallock (Fredericksburg, TX, USA)
"Dirtus Maximus: A Sustainability Strategy"
12:20 – 1:40 PM
Lunch Break
2:00 – 5:00 PM
Sunday Afternoon Walking Tour of Santa Fe

Monday, October 5 to Wednesday, October 7, 2015

8:00 – 6:00 PM each day
3-Day Bus Tour to Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, Alamosa Habitat for Humanity, Taos Pueblo