Building a house - superadobe?

Accomodation, House and Garden
1
Hello,

is there anybody out there who heard about superadobe technology?

It is an alternative technology to build houses, using very basic and cheap materials - see http://calearth.org/ , designed to be very cost effective, also used for "home-less" people after earthquaqes, wars, etc.

I am thinking about building such a house in Vaud, but I have some concerns about the feasibility of such a project: As most probably there is not too much houses built already with such a technology in Switzerland, it may be something new for the authorities - would it be approved by them at all, if yes, how long it may take to get the building permission? How difficult it would be to find an architect who can manage those matters an architect is supposed to manage for such a project? (adjust our plan, validate, submit for approval,..)

I have already contacted some of them whose contact details I have found in other threads of this forum, and even talked to one of them, she was not very optimistic, let's say. Even if most part of the work could be done ourselves, there are some things which require specialists (plumbing, heating installation, etc.), so these parts would be the most expensive in the overall construction work, I expect. How much cost I should plan for these activities..? (total size of the house would be ~90 m2 , the plan would look like the double ecodom described in http://calearth.org/building-designs/eco-dome.html , nothing special, one kitchen, one bathroom) In general, the potential total cost of the project is not yet clear.

The land we're thinking about would be 750~900 m2 and cost approx. 200 K CHF, all other construction costs (including fee of the architect and any other overhead) should not be more (in my opininion) than another 100 K, considering that most of the building materials used should be cheap (mostly sandbag, earth, barbed wire, some cement) comparing to usual materials like brick.

Can someone who already built a house in CH from scratch could comment on this? So, in general I am interested in if it is feasible at all, and if so, how much time and investment is required to make it happen.

Any sort of hint or advice is appreciated!

thanks

2
I thought your thread was about a graphic design program, using a new version of Flash.

3
No, not at all...

4
so are you saying that for 300k you expect to have a house ready to be lived in? If this is the case, I think you might be living in la-la land. Hopefully I misunderstood what you are asking.

5
There's your answer.

In France however, it will be possible, and maybe even at those prices.

From the calearth website " It uses the materials of war" so shipping from Libya should be factored in as well, unless there's a local conflict going on down in Vaud.

6
There are very strict building regs. here and maybe there are certain aspects of this type of design that don't meet some of them.

Financing such a project could also be difficult on something that gives the appearance of looking temporary (even if it isn't).

... and resale value? (for default or otherwise).

7
OK, maybe not 300K but closer to 400K. I am not sure.

That's why I started the thread.

8
I am afraid your project will be very difficult, if not impossible. Most cantons and communes have building regs. and legislation to determine what is possible, ie. it snows here, so they regulate the pitch of the roof so that it is sound to uphold a certain weight and the snow falls off, just one example. If what you are thinking is anything like the picture, I doubt a roof like that would ever suit the conditions here. Most new builds now require the Minigerie or Minergie Plus energy standards, thus pretty strict need to have insulation and heating to a specific regs.

Then there are asthetic issues which many communes take great pains to keep everthing in harmony. They don't like things that stand out. Even the colour of your house, the surface ratio of windows to wall surface, etc. are controlled.

Then the hurdle of the permission of the neighbors who would probably object as they would not be so thrilled to have a typcially non-swiss house in the neighborhood.

And have you really found land in VD for 200k? Most around these parts are close to 1 million for land, and if bare land (non equipped), have to add a lot of money to equip. such as bringing in pipes and electric, etc.

9
I doubt as well that you would ever get approval for such a house. In my personal opinion, I would find a house like that very strange in a mountain environment. It is one thing if you are living in the desert or southwest US, but here in Switzerland, that would be very odd indeed.

10
I think the OP has been watching Star wars films too many times:

Cheap Eco-home:

Star wars village house on planet in galaxy far, far away:

11
I think it's a great idea, to build a house like this, unfortunately Switzerland is not the place to realise it.

12
If I look at homegate.ch, there are some lands at such a price.

For example: http://www.homegate.ch/buy/103896602...ault&l=default

size: 750 m2, price: 165 K, but there are others, too, below 200 K.

13
You can have all the eco-friendly houses you want in Switzerland, as long as they're made out of concrete.

14
Why do we build houses that could realistically last for 1000 years?

Ecologically I suppose it makes sense, due to its lifespan, but with the changes in requirements of living, will we really want these houses in 100 years, letalone 500 years or longer?

Look at the concrete horrors that were put up in the 1970's that are being torn down already.

15
You're chances are 10,000:1 and that's being generous. This will not get planning approval in most places. Your first step will be to find a commune that will let you build this THEN buy land.

16
There are rules that say the houses have to be similar to the others in the area - this will mean they will probably not allow the house to be built even if it meets the other requirements the geminde allows legally (area, height, windows etc)

I know they have build houses eco houses in France so might be better to do that there if you can

Good luck - post pictures if you get it done - be interesting to see the finished house

17
I really think you are dreaming, this one comes with the condition that you work with a specified architect with his building plans. So in essence, you cannot build what you want, have to work with him, at his costs, and his plans. Most land so cheap comes with conditions or issues (next to the train lines or non-buidable), etc.

18
Architect fees are in the region of 15 to 20% of the build cost, apparently.

19
If you adapted your design to something similar to these below, you may well find that you could get approval - these did - and are literally about 100m from Vaud, inside Canton Fribourg.

[](https://www.englishforum.ch/attachments/housing-general/40214d1332418584-building-house-superadobe-293996898_f2039c5508.jpg)

20
my house was 260 years old when i bought it, so yes, i think we will