IN THIS ISSUE
Intro
Articles
Can Adobe be Relevant in the 21st Century? Cornerstones Community Partnerships Evolves
At One with the Earth: At One with Oneself — Reflections and A Photo Essay of an Owner-Builder
Regular Column: Getting the Dirt On …
Timely News and Events
Welcome to the Fifth Issue of EarthUSA News
Welcome!
Welcome to the fifth issue of EarthUSA News, an expanded electronic newsletter on earth building in the United States and beyond. This issue comes out as the worldwide coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to present us with uncertainty, trials, and challenges. We at EarthUSA News hope that you, your families, friends, and communities are well and we hold dear all who have been affected. Please be safe and take care.
EarthUSA News seeks to engage those interested and involved in earthen construction; to preserve and promote its cultural, economic, environmental, historical, and social aspects; and to be a source of both timely news and institutional knowledge.
EarthUSA News further acts as a bridge between the biannual Earth USA conference as well as an outlet to those involved in complimentary fields and the general public.
We hope you find the articles in this issue of EarthUSA News informative and exciting. The first article highlights the mission and activities — past and present — of Cornerstones, a non-profit organization in Santa Fe, NM, which restores historic structures, preserves cultural landscapes, encourages traditional building practices, and conserves natural resources always in partnership with communities. The second article discusses Adobe in Action’s mission and how it has been offering, for nine years, a full array of online adobe earth building courses to inform and educate interested individuals on earthen construction worldwide. These classes include theoretical and practical coursework and upon completion of all eight of them, students receive a certificate and are eligible to apply to its owner-builder support program. And the third article and photo essay is by Ethan Novikoff, an adobe owner-builder in southwestern New Mexico. This article includes reflections as well as lessons that he has learned throughout the process of building a home; reflections and lessons that might be of help to potential adobe owner-builders.
EarthUSA’s regular column, “Getting the Dirt on …” features Helen Levine. My guess is that many of our readers already know Helen Levine and New Mexico Earth Adobes, the family-owned business that she co-manages with her brother. New Mexico Earth Adobes is located in Albuquerque, NM, and is one of the largest adobe manufacturing yards in the world. We are so excited that she took the time to fill us in on her interest in earth building; how she became involved in this field; how New Mexico Earth Adobes is managing in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic; and what the general public should know about building with the earth.
We also look into the recent podcast of Mud Talks, a podcast devoted to adobe and earthen construction, produced by Adobe in Action. The latest podcast features an interview with the previously mentioned Ethan Novikoff, an owner-builder, who is constructing his first adobe home outside of Silver City, NM. And, we learn about a recent book that chronicles the Weir family — brothers who forty years designed and built adobe homes in San Diego, CA.
Finally, it is worth noting that Covid-19 has forced two major earth building conferences — Terra and Earth USA slated to occur in 2021 in Santa Fe, NM, to be postponed a year. Terra 2022 is now scheduled for June 2022, and Earth USA 2022 will take place that following September.
We hope that whether you have been reading EarthUSA News since its inception or you are doing so for the first time, you find it of interest and value. We also welcome your written contributions to it as well as your comments.
Contributions, comments, and questions can be sent to editor@adobeinaction.org.
Mark Zaineddin
editor, EarthUSA News
Can Adobe be Relevant in the 21st Century?
Cornerstones Community Partnerships Evolves
Written by Jake Barrow
Cornerstones works in partnership with communities to restore historic structures, preserve cultural landscapes, encourage traditional building practices, and conserve natural resources. Founded in 1986, under the title “Churches Symbols of a Community”, the organization first embarked on a program to save the disappearing historic adobe churches in Northern New Mexico. The fundamental idea driving this mission was that if a community had the will to roll up their sleeves and spearhead an initiative to save their church, then the organization would find a way to help. Supported, at first, by local benefactors and grants, the work exploded in popularity. Repair work was performed by volunteers under the supervision of at least one paid expert. Local leadership including mayordomos and elders always is and has been the link to the particular tradition, materials, and techniques of the place.
By 1992, Churches had outgrown the original mission and organization. A new board of directors was formed and Cornerstones was founded. At this juncture the organization began to expand to work in Pueblos and with other types of public buildings. Throughout these years and into the new century, the main focus was the preservation of adobe, with energy also put towards stone, timber, and log traditions.
The work of Cornerstones has always been about the heritage, keeping in mind that the process is the important goal of preservation, not the product. This process depends upon the people performing the work, and together these two aspects — that is, the heritage and the people performing the work — are always core to any endeavor that Cornerstones undertakes. This process was part of the age-old tradition in New Mexico in which the people of a community built their villages out of the earth on which they had settled and farmed. Until the 20 th century — and until the multitude of modern changes which overwhelmed the built environment came fully into view — this tradition was alive and well after centuries of continuity. Prior to the Spanish colonial period, native populations had used earthen architecture for millennia. These traditions ran deep in New Mexico and their threads are still profound, even though they have been challenged and put to the test in the face of so many contemporary materials and methods.
During the 20th century, industrialization has systematically altered building practices to such an extent that the idea of working with earth by hand in a non-mechanized and labor intensive way has become an anathema in much of the modern world. Yet, in New Mexico, a nostalgia for the old ways and an appreciation for the heritage of ancestors still has resonance. Cornerstones has mined this interest and enthusiasm carefully. This nostalgia — coupled with a new energy among a younger generation responding to climate change — has provided an impetus for adopting age-old principles and practices of working with earthen materials. The changing of attitudes is not limited to New Mexico but rather can be seen across the globe. For example, many are realizing that Portland cement, the main competitor to adobe, is an environmentally polluting material and has undesirable qualities when mixed with it. Furthermore, interior design has fostered new interest in natural finishes even on modern materials. These take the form of tinted clay plasters and washes applied even to dry wall.
In New Mexico, earthen architecture never disappeared; but, rather, it went from being a home owners option to being the choice of the wealthy, higher-end housing market. This transformation was facilitated by the use of asphalt emulsion as an additive which, when introduced in the appropriate concentration, can make an adobe brick nearly as durable as a concrete block. This material, along with the expanded use of cement-based stucco, makes for a traditional “like” adobe building. Both this use and that of cement have proven incompatible with traditional adobe. Furthermore, it is an expensive building system, not due to the additive, but rather for the same reason traditional adobe can be expensive. The cost of labor to handle bricks — weighing approximately 35 lbs each — which have to be made, dried, stacked, moved, and laid up into walls causes high costs.
It should be mentioned that, during its initial years, Cornerstones produced a handbook of best practices to preserve adobe. At first, a loose leaf binder, it was added to as various experts compiled documentation of methods and materials. Eventually, it was formally printed and remains available for sale at Cornerstones. It has achieved substantial recognition world-wide.
In recent years, one hurdle overcome has been New Mexico’s burdensome adobe building code when it comes to historic preservation and renovation. Requirements for new construction such as concrete footings, insulation requirements, cement stucco plaster, and concrete bond beams were also applied to historic adobe architecture renovation. This resulted in the destruction of fabric. Cornerstones successfully led a five year campaign to create a code for historic earthen architecture that allows for the many vernacular details inherent in old adobe so long as a professional reviews the plans.
An adobe-making workshop at the Palmerita Ranch BLM site in Arizona
Preserving historic adobe — as Cornerstones has done — nurtures an appreciation for the rich patrimony of New Mexico architecture appreciated by locals and visitors alike. Tourism is a vital industry to New Mexico and many visitors travel to rural areas appreciating the cultural landscape. Rural New Mexico remains economically challenged and opportunities for jobs are limited. Cornerstones believes in tourism to help sustain community; but, tourism only with a small ‘t”. This small “t” is about controlled tourism which is managed so as not to transform communities into museum places frozen in time.
Another sustainability effort involves training local youth. Working with adobe is an ideal entry into the world of masonry construction and is relatively easy to learn. Hands-on workshop settings have become a core activity offered by Cornerstones and these learning opportunities sustain the organization and provide employment for interns and experts.
In the 21st century, earthen architecture is taking on renewed importance. No longer essential and ubiquitous, this ancient tradition is thriving among a population both appreciative of cultural heritage and also seeking better and more sustainable ways of living.
Since 2016, Jake Barrow has served as Executive Director of Cornerstones, a non-for-profit organization that works in partnership with communities to restore historic structures, preserve cultural landscapes, encourage traditional building practices, and conserve natural resources. He came to Cornerstones in 2009 after retiring from a thirty-year historic preservation career with the National Park Service. For more information on Cornerstone, please see visit its website at: https://www.cstones.org.
Nine Years of Online Mud at Adobe in Action
Written by Kurt Gardella, Education Coordinator and Instructor at Adobe in Action
Introduction
Adobe in Action (AinA) is a New Mexico-based 501c3 non-profit organization. The organization supports owner builders with the planning and construction of their adobe homes. It also promotes adobe home building and ownership through education and student-based field support. AinA's Certificate in Adobe Construction Program is unique in that the organization has been offering all eight of its classes via online instruction since 2012. Once a student finishes the online classes, they are eligible to apply for AinA’s Owner Builder Support Program which is also carried out using mostly online tools.
Some Background Information about Adobe in New Mexico
Adobe construction has been used in New Mexico and in surrounding areas since the eleventh century. As one of the world’s oldest forms of building, it produces solid, long-lasting structures. The great mass of adobe walls absorbs heat during the day and releases it when the temperatures drop making it the perfect building material for high-desert regions. It is a straightforward process to create a passive solar structure with this much mass available to store heat. Due to the fact that New Mexico has an established earthen building materials code and a long history of adobe architecture, adobe is an accepted and well-respected method of building a home. It is actually the building material of choice for premium homes across the state. For owner builders, adobe offers cost savings that other building materials simply cannot match as long as a people are willing to put in most of the labor themselves.
Adobe in Action's Online Certificate in Adobe Construction
AinA’s online adobe certificate classes focus on new construction and promote the continued qualification of adobe craftspeople through theoretical and practical coursework. A certificate of completion is presented for each class that is successfully completed. Upon completion of all 8 classes, the student is presented with a final Adobe in Action Certificate in Adobe Construction. AinA strives to align its classes with existing academic and professional earth building institutions to contribute to a nationally recognized certification in adobe construction (for example, AinA’s Certificate in Adobe Construction is a great way to prepare for the Adobe Proficiency Certification that The Earthbuilders' Guild offers).
The Adobe in Action Certificate Program is made up of the following online classes:
1. Passive Solar Adobe Design
2. New Mexico Adobe Building Permit Process
3. History & Basics of Adobe Construction
4. Foundations for Adobe Structures
5. Adobe Wall Construction
6. Roofs for Adobe Structures
7. Interior and Exterior Plastering
8. Floors for Adobe Structures
“Adobe construction taught through the internet? How does that work?” is a question we hear on a weekly basis.
The short answer: The technical aspects of adobe are presented via reading material, podcast audio interviews, and video demonstrations as well as through discussions with the instructor and other students. The students complete small hands-on adobe assignments at home which cover the full spectrum of the basics of adobe construction from foundation to roof. Instructors supply the students with the knowledge, confidence, and motivation to begin working with this simple yet powerful building material on their own.
The long answer: The courses run for six weeks each and new content is released to the students on a weekly basis. Each week contains a mix of course elements accessible through AinA's online learning management system. An online course generally consists of the following elements:
Example student final project for the online Adobe Wall Construction class - story pole construction and set up in preparation for an adobe wall build.
A weekly theoretical reading assignment dealing with the topic of the week. A good portion of the reading material is found on the web but some courses also employ a textbook.
A weekly audio podcast interview with Adobe in Action's Interim Board President, Quentin Wilson, on the week's main topic. Students download the podcast to their computers and listen at their leisure. They are expected to comment on the interviews and e-mail in questions as a follow-up assignment.
A weekly step-by-step video demonstration which students can stream online and view at their leisure. The video sequences assist the students with their hands-on projects by helping them visualize the hands-on techniques described in the reading and assignment sheets.
A weekly practical hands-on assignment which students are expected to complete on their own and then share with the group via written description and/or digital image documentation (still image or video) of the completed project.
A private web-based discussion forum which the students and instructors use to communicate with each other. This discussion forum is the course’s main communication platform for posting questions and answers related to adobe construction, making announcements about assignments, and for students to share their completed work if they wish.
The program has also experimented with occasional live internet chat/video sessions to give the groups more real time opportunities to interact and support each other on questions which arise during the courses.
How the Online Course Management System Works
Logging In: AinA’s online courses each have their own dedicated online workspace which students log into the day the course begins. The online courses are managed through Adobe in Action's online learning management system. The instructor and students do not all have to be logged in to the course website at the same time which gives participants greater flexibility over the 6 weeks an online course usually lasts.
Content Access: Students have access to the online course workspace 24/7 for the entire six weeks of the course. Content is released to the students one week at a time via PDF files, downloadadble MP3 podcast files, and streamable MP4 video files. The video files cover all topics related to hands-on demonstrations and give the online courses a very practical touch.
Communication: Students have the opportunity to communicate with each other and the course instructor using an integrated discussion forum. This forum really makes up the heart of the course. It is where all communication between the students and the instructor takes place. This six week communication channel is what separates AinA’s courses from a normal self-study online course. Questions addressed specifically to the course instructor are usually answered within 12 hours. All of the messages posted to the course discussion forum can also be automatically forwarded to a student's e-mail address. Students can interact with the course via e-mail if they do not feel the need to log into the course each time a new message appears. This is especially helpful for students who are away from the computer during the day.
Realtime Interaction: In addition to the integrated discussion group, AinA instructors sometimes schedule one realtime text chat or video conference session per course. This is the only part of the course where it is necessary for everyone to be online and logged in at the same time. Participation is optional.
Example of an adobe home under construction in Santa Fe, NM by a past graduate of the AinA online classes and current recipient of AinA owner builder support.
The Next Step: Adobe in Action's Owner Builder Support Program
As more and more students completed AinA’s online adobe certificate program and moved on to building their own adobe homes, the organization realized that a second level of support was required. Adobe in Action's Owner Builder Support Program provides ongoing project support during the planning and construction phases of a past student's owner builder adobe project. Current and past project support has included (but is not limited to):
lot selection/purchasing advice
cost estimation for owner-builder projects
design & building plan consultation
code & permit assistance
construction site planning
student-supported adobe brick production
student-supported adobe wall construction
student-supported natural plastering
Graduates of the online certificate program are eligible to apply for support and if their project is selected, special project management software is used to create an online group collaboration space where project support can be requested and provided. For each project, the support recipient is given access to the online project management system as well as Adobe in Action's Owner Builder Support Team. The support team is currently made up of the following Adobe in Action board members:
Quentin Wilson (a retired adobe contractor and Director Emeritus of The Adobe Construction Program at Northern New Mexico College)
Ben Loescher (a licensed architect)
Kirk Higbee (Bachelor of Science in Engineering: Civil Engineering - Construction Engineering)
Ethan Novikoff (an AinA Certificate in Adobe Construction holder and past owner builder support recipient)
Kurt Gardella (Adobe in Action's education coordinator and online instructor) provides technical administration for the support.
Generally speaking, most of the project support is provided via the online project management system. Telephone support and in-person site visits can also be requested by the support recipient. The project management system contains the following online collaboration/project support tools:
A project discussion forum which the support recipient and support team use to communicate with each other. This discussion forum is the project's main communication platform for posting questions and obtaining answers related to the support recipient’s adobe construction project. The messages can be pushed to the participants' e-mail addresses as well.
A file-sharing tool which keeps all important documents and building plans in a consolidated space that is accessible to all participants at all times.
A project calendar tool which can be used for setting project milestones.
A to-do list tool which can be used to assign and keep track of project tasks and deadlines.
The project support team also helps to coordinate volunteers (usually past or current students of the online certificate program) who wish to spend a day or two helping out with a project. Looking to the future, we are also in the planning stages of coordinating more formal on-site support workshops which will connect students who are currently enrolled in the online certificate program with program graduates who have moved on to building their own adobe homes.
Conclusion
In these times of dwindling raw materials and increased wild fire risk, it is essential that we explore and experiment with earth building techniques past and present to educate a new workforce of adobe builders. New Mexico has kept adobe construction alive by focusing on basic, time-tested building techniques which put the skills of building a home back into the hands of the average person. One of the Adobe in Action’s main goals is to make the adobe techniques that are common in New Mexico more well-known around the United States and even internationally to help contribute to the promotion and revival of earthen construction worldwide. The unique mix of online instruction and online owner builder support offered by AinA is now reaching a nationwide audience and spreading the word about the benefits of adobe as a building material. The original motivation for moving its education offerings online was to reach more students around the southwest United States. The current Covid-19 crisis has confirmed to AinA that online education is an essential part of keeping adobe alive in the hearts and minds of potential owner builders. Adobe in Action accepts the challenge of continuing to push the boundaries of online mud collaboration to achieve our mission of promoting adobe home building and ownership.
Links
Adobe in Action's Certificate in Adobe Construction (https://www.adobeinaction.org/certificate-classes)
Adobe in Action's Owner Builder Support Application (https://www.adobeinaction.org/owner-builder-support)
Ethan Novikoff's Owner Builder Adobe Project Blog (https://visioncreationadobe.com/)
The Earthbuilders’ Guild Adobe Proficiency Certification (https://theearthbuildersguild.com/teg-basic-adobe-proficiency-certification/)
Acknowledgements
This article is inspired by an earlier version that appeared in the Conference Proceedings of LEHM 2008 - The 5th International Conference and Trade Fair on Building with Earth which took place in Koblenz, Germany.
Kurt Gardella is the education coordinator and instructor at Adobe in Action. He specializes in online and field-based adobe construction education. In addition to having a Certificate in Adobe Construction from Northern New Mexico College, Kurt is also certified as a Specialist for Building with Earth (Registration #01-208-0810) by the Dachverband Lehm (German Association for Building with Earth) and the Handwerkskammer Ulm (Ulm Chamber of Trades and Crafts). Kurt also holds an Adobe Proficiency Certification from The Earthbuilders' Guild.
At One with the Earth: At One with Oneself — Reflections and A Photo Essay of an Owner-Builder
written by Ethan Novikoff
To build an earthen house is to struggle, endure, and ultimately realize a dream that begins as a hazy vision and is slowly defined in detail as the house takes shape. In fact, the owner-builder must be a bit of dreamer, for a house is more than just an enclosed space. Houses influence the lives lived within their walls, and the best houses create a sense of well-being, comfort, and connection for their inhabitants. The owner-builder should be motivated not only by a desire to create a house that satisfies his or her need for shelter, but also by a vision of the house as a place in which one can live more healthfully, more autonomously, and more sustainably.
In this article, I’ll be sharing some of my reflections as an owner-builder of an adobe house. I think it’s important for prospective owner-builders to have a solid understanding of what it takes to build one’s own house and to know what to expect of the experience. These are a few of the lessons I have learned throughout the building of my house that I hope can be of some use to other builders. I will also endeavor to spread some of my enthusiasm for earthen construction and for doing the work yourself.
Aspects of Character
You do not have to be a particularly confident person to embark on the building of your own house. You don’t even have to be an experienced builder. When you are starting out, you do not have to fully understand how you are going to do everything that you will eventually do over the course of the entire project. Almost anyone can build their own house, as long as she or he has the drive and desire to take on the venture.
Really, what is needed most, is an openness and willingness to make mistakes, as well as the resolution to overcome the obstacles that define, and ultimately enrich, the owner-builder experience. The virtue of perseverance is much more important than the virtue of confidence. Confidence is acquired as the house progresses, as challenges are met, and as the quality of one’s work begins to speak for itself.
Getting Started
When starting to build, even if significant designing and planning has already taken place, it can feel quite overwhelming to think of the project in its entirety. There is so much to be done; and for the novice builder, it may be hard to envision aspects of the build that rely on the prior completion of numerous stages of construction. Throughout the building of a house, I have found it most helpful to focus almost entirely on the current phase of the project. Aside from making sure to always be prepared for the next stage of construction, there is little value to worrying over future construction stages when there is so much left to be done in the present. Conceptualizing the project in terms of a series of stages, while giving each stage an adequate amount of energy and focus at the appropriate time, is a manageable and effective strategy for the owner-builder.
Doing the Work
The building of an earthen home requires hard, physical labor and a lot of time. I find working with earthen materials to be more enjoyable than working with other types of commonly used materials, such as wood, sheetrock, metal, and fiberglass insulation. More conventional construction materials may sometimes be quicker and lighter to use, but they are often not as pleasant to manipulate and handle. They also generally require greater resources to produce, and thus, are less sustainable than earth-based materials. Earthen materials are, perhaps paradoxically, both simple and sophisticated. Plus, they just feel better.
Although earthen construction is hard and slow, I tend to view these qualities as desirable for the owner-builder experience. Hard work increases the sense of accomplishment. Working slowly and repetitively can help facilitate a certain mindfulness and singleness of purpose. These elements are often lost in more conventional methods of construction, and the builder who chooses to construct with earthen materials puts him- or herself in position for a truly rewarding experience.
The Bigger Picture
It is also valuable for the owner-builder to look beyond the personal experience of constructing her or his home and realize how the project fits into a broader movement towards greater sustainability. Although owner-builders are often somewhat isolated and there are no formal organizational or professional ties between builders, owner-builders are connected to each other in solidarity through the positive impact that their work has on their communities. These builders are embedded in communities across the world and are demonstrating to these communities that building one’s own house is a modern, sensible, and achievable goal. They are showing that houses can and should be built to the specific needs and preferences of the inhabitants, and that the use of sustainable and natural materials is a contemporary and elegant design choice.
Even people who have not the faintest desire to build something themselves can be influenced by their exposure to modern houses built with such different materials and design considerations than most conventional houses. These people can be reoriented toward an appreciation of the nonlinearity, the imperfection, and the impermanence that natural materials can provide. They can learn to see these characteristics not as undesirable abnormalities, but as explicitly modern features of houses designed for the modern era.
For people interested in building their own homes, an owner-built project can demonstrate the reasonability and attainability of this goal. I believe that owner-builders have a responsibility to encourage and support these aspiring builders, as this is perhaps the most direct way of passing along and continuing the owner-builder tradition. Owner builders should make their projects more visible by sharing photos of their work and by articulating their construction narratives, especially online and through social media. They should demonstrate an openness to have interested parties visit their worksites and learn about their work firsthand. Providing volunteer and employment opportunities can give a huge boost to aspiring builders looking for on-the-job experience.
The building of a house is part of a timeless tradition common to all humankind, even though the materials, techniques, and styles of construction have varied widely throughout time and place. To be a part of this tradition is meaningful and significant. The more that modern humanity is connected to the buildings we inhabit, the more these buildings will suit our needs and accurately reflect our culture. The more we are connected to the places we inhabit, the more likely we are to prioritize natural materials and sustainable design. This sort of paradigm shift would have far-reaching implications for minimizing our impact on the world, and for improving our connectedness with natural systems and natural processes.
Photo One: Prior to beginning construction, this is the natural clearing on our hilltop where we chose to build our house.
Photo Two: The rubble trench foundation is complete.and we are ready to pour the concrete grade beam.
Photo Three: Perhaps unsurprisingly, laying adobes is definitely the best part of building an adobe house!
Photo Four: The roofless house in the silent stillness of a snowy morning after we hiked up to brush off the snow.
Photo Five: A view from atop the house before the ceiling and roof were installed.
Photo Seven: The view of the north side of the house with the roof completed.
Photo Six: My friend, John, helping me install the ridge cap on the metal roof.
Photo Eight: A view down the hallway showing the base coat of earthen plaster on the walls and the base coat of earthen floor.
Ethan Novikoff continues to build his adobe home in southwestern New Mexico. He writes about his project at www.visioncreationadobe.com. He is a board member of Adobe in Action and presented a paper on the owner-builder experience at Earth USA 2019.
Regular Column: Getting the Dirt on ... Helen Levine
Helen Levine is co-manager with one of her siblings of New Mexico Earth Adobes , a family-owned business, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1972, New Mexico Earth Adobes is one the largest adobe yards in the world and continues to serve customers in New Mexico, the Southwest, and beyond. Ms. Levine is also active in The Earthbuilders' Guild, where she currently serves as its treasurer. In addition to her interest and involvement in adobe, Ms. Levine plays the clarinet and the tuba in two community bands and a local orchestra, enjoys reading, and doing endless construction projects and repairs on her little house in Albuquerque’s north valley.
1. How did you first get interested or involved in adobe construction and earth building?
Helen Levine of New Mexico Earth Adobes driving a loader
It was an accident! In 1972, our father and a friend started New Mexico Earth Adobes (NM Earth) in the north valley of Albuquerque. In 1978, I returned to New Mexico from Central California for a summer job with my father’s company, and never left. I was 18!
In the beginning, I worked as a laborer in the yard, scraping adobes and loading trucks. It was hard work, under the New Mexico sun! At the end of the first year, I started working on the pug mill along with another woman. We mixed mud in addition to performing other general labor. The following year, it was as a laborer with the addition of driving the tractor and moving mud from the mud pit out to the forms. As years went by, I was given more responsibility and varied jobs including office and paperwork—though these were never my favorite things. To this day, one of things that I still do is continue to work as a laborer!
In terms of management, my younger brother, Mark, started at the adobe yard shortly after I did. Richard, our dad, gradually moved more responsibilities onto us. When he retired from everything but serving as an advisor, Mark and I were able to take up the management of the business. It was such a slow transition that I can’t pinpoint a particular year in which that happened!
2. Where do you find your passion in this field? For example, are you particularly interested in the architectural, community building, cultural, economic, engineering, environmental, historical, regulatory, or sociological aspects of adobe construction and earth building?
I am very interested in the historical, cultural, and environmental aspects of earth building.
Historically, building structures for shelter was a community activity, and, therefore, important culturally. Just look at New Mexico. In our small corner of the world, we have an abundance of old adobe. Pueblos of earthen construction, dating from before the Spanish arrival, are very much community-oriented, cultural, and historic. Spaniards who came to this region created land grant communities with adobe buildings throughout. They, themselves, had been historically influenced by the Moors and then further encouraged by the environment, the access to earthen materials, and the proof from native Pueblo peoples showing them that adobe was successful in New Mexico. Old churches — with 48” thick walls of adobe — once again show a community-orientation, a rich culture, and a long history, much of which carries on through the present day as communities gather to worship and celebrate; to restore and maintain; to uphold and affirm. The threads running through all of these tie the present together with the past, which cannot be separated from culture.
Adobe is integral to vernacular building in many parts of the world. It’s highly unlikely, no matter where you are building, that there is no dirt! As adobe aficionado Quentin Wilson is fond of saying, “Adobe buildings are found on every continent in the world, except for Antarctica.”
With respect to the environment, in our world today, it is critical — in my opinion— to emphasize the importance of a circular economy. What better illustration do we have for this than adobe: adobe comes from the earth, often close to the building site; it is used and reused again and again, either in the existing structure as it is occupied from generation to generation, or when it is recycled into new adobes; and, in the end, it returns to the earth. In our operation, we recycle every bit of rubble, every broken adobe. We estimate at least the first several thousand adobes produced, at the beginning of a season, contain 95 percent recycled material!
3. Since you started making adobe bricks, have you seen any changes in your business? In who is procuring adobe bricks? In the direction of adobe construction?
New Mexico Earth Adobes manufacturing yard
The late 1970’s and the 1980’s are considered by many the heyday of modern adobe in the Southwest. Here in New Mexico, at that time, we had over 50 adobe yards … from small backyard businesses to large commercial operations. Now, we have two commercial yards. Occasionally I will hear of a small yard here and there, but it is infrequent.
In 2008, business virtually disappeared. From a production of 400,000 - 500,000 adobes per year, we dropped to just over 100,000. Previously, we had sold to contractors twice as often as to homeowners. At that time, however, the reverse took place; that is, sales to homeowners occurred more often than to contractors. It seemed that more people were holding onto their homes; that they were adding additions and improving their landscapes with adobe walls instead of purchasing new homes. Although our business changed dramatically, we were able to hold steady at the new rate and continue with adobe production.
In recent years, sales have been fairly steady and the proportion of contractor purchases to homeowner purchases has largely returned to a more usual pre-recession ratio; that said, business has never regained its pre-recession levels.
4. What have been the highlights of your career? What are you currently focusing on? Has the current coronavirus pandemic and its effects offered new challenges and/or opportunities?
We were forced to close for a few weeks at the start of this year’s coronavirus pandemic, but quickly reopened. We have only six to seven months in our production season so we needed to get back to work as soon as possible. Fortunately, construction material manufacturing was deemed an essential business! We were busy this summer as people staying home seemed to pass the time doing home improvements, and, in many cases, this required adobes. I moved the office out onto the patio and set up a ‘customer zone’ on the far side of the patio gate in order to maintain a goodly distance and to stop people from walking up upon me.
5. Why is it important that the general public become more educated about earth building and adobe construction?
Lack of education may be the biggest stumbling block to the success of earthen construction in our modern world! Comments I hear from people include, “I didn’t know that adobe was still a thing!” and “The contractor I talked to said I didn’t really want adobe; that he could build me a house much faster out of frame in a Southwest adobe style.”
Educating the public on the advantages in comfort and on the beauty of a true adobe home, and on the longterm economic savings and benefits to the environment in a well-designed earthen home is critical.
If you do not know about it you cannot choose it!
On a small scale, we inform people coming into our yard about the benefits of adobe. We give tours; host field trips for people of all ages; and remind potential customers and others to assess long-term savings, not just the initial cost of building.
People have a view that adobe is an expensive material to which to build. We try to put that in context — why quibble over $5,000 spent on exterior walls when someone will gladly throw down $20,000 on a kitchen? The truth is it is the extras that can really add up in a home: for example, adding vigas in the roof, latillas, using brick floors, or including tile, and none of those are unique to the adobe home. You cannot get away from the labor factor though. It takes longer to build an earthen home, but it is well worth it!
Through The Earthbuilders’ Guild (TEG), we attempt to do this on a larger scale. TEG has worked with a number of organizations including Adobe in Action, Northern New Mexico College, Cornerstones, and others to develop a curriculum and a method to increase access to educational programs, both hands-on and on-line. TEG offers a certification for earth builders, and reaches out to the public with invitations to join in on tours of various fascinating sites of earthen construction, old and new. In this way and others, we are working to bring adobe in particular, and earthen construction in general, into the mainstream as a viable and beneficial mode of construction.
6. What else would you like to share with the earth building community or the general public about yourself, your business, or the field?
I fell into this business — you might say — and consider myself very fortunate to have landed doing something I could enjoy for a lifetime!
NM Earth is much more than just another manufacturing business. We provide a service to our community and help keep the idea and the reality of adobe alive. I feel lucky to be a part of it!
Timely News and Events
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS
Please find below upcoming activities and events. While seeking to promote earth building activities and events, EarthUSA News cannot vet or verify all activities and events, or the entities that are organizing them. As always, please contact the entity with any questions or concerns that you may have.
Final 2020 Adobe in Action Online Earth Building Course
In spite of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Adobe in Action’s activities have continued uninterrupted due to the online delivery format that the organization has been using since 2012. Adobe in Action's final online class of 2020 - Floors for Adobe Structures - begins on November 9th. Join us and learn how to install your own earthen test floor in a wooden box. More info about this class can be found at https://www.adobeinaction.org/event-calender/.
Our full eight course Certificate in Adobe Construction program will be launching again in early 2021. More information on the courses, registration, and the full certificate program can be found at https://www.adobeinaction.org/certificate-classes/.
Adobe in Action is a New Mexico-based 501c3 non-profit organization which supports owner builders with the planning and construction of adobe homes; promotes adobe home building and ownership through education and student-based field support; produces Mud Talks, a podcast dedicated to earthen construction; and organizes Earth USA, the largest biannual conference on earth building in the United States.
Terra World Conference and Earth USA Postponed to 2022
Two Important Earthen Architecture Conferences to be held in Santa Fe, New Mexico Pushed Back a Year
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and its uncertainties, challenges, and repercussions, two important earthen architecture conferences, Terra 2022 and Earth USA 2022, that were slated to take place in Santa Fe, NM, next year have been postponed to 2022.
Terra 2021: the 13th World Congress on the Study and Conservation of Earthen Architectural Heritage has been renamed Terra 2022 and will convene June 7th - 10th, 2022. Earth USA 2021: the 11th International Conference on Architecture & Construction with Earthen Materials will now be called Earth USA 2022 and will be held September 23rd - 25th, 2022.
Both conferences are among the most important worldwide conferences in the field of earthen architecture and in addition to podium presentations and poster sessions they generally also include pre- and/or post-conference activities such as workshops and tours. Organizers of both conferences will continue to provide further details in the future.
Since 1972, major international conferences on earthen architecture and heritage have been organized under the auspices of the International Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage (ICEAH) of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS); each time in a different city around the world. This will be the 13th such conference and the second to have taken place in New Mexico.
Earth USA is generally held biannually and is among the largest — if not the largest — regularly held earth building conferences in the United States. In order to further engage with the earth building community and with both previous and prospective 2022 attendees, the organizers of Earth USA 2022 are considering a one-day virtual conference in the fall of 2021. Be on the look out for information about this.
For more information on Terra 2022, please visit https://www.terra2022.org. Check out the details of Earth USA 2022 as well as proceedings of past Earth USA conferences at https://www.earthusa.org.
Mudtalks! A Podcast Dedicated to All Things Earth Building
Mud Talks – created by Adobe in Action (AinA), a non-profit organization based in Santa Fe, NM – is a worthwhile and highly informative podcast devoted to adobe and earthen construction.
Mud Talks #11 was launched in late August. In this latest episode, Adobe in Action spoke to Ethan Novikoff about his owner builder adobe experience. Ethan has gone through all phases of owner builder support at Adobe in Action - he has taken all eight of the online courses, participated in AinA’s remote owner builder support program, and has even served as a volunteer at the biennial earth building conference, Earth USA. Ethan also recently became a board member at Adobe in Action. Listen as he walks you through his personal owner builder adobe journey.
Note: All past Mud Talks episodes can be found directly on Adobe in Action's website at https://www.adobeinaction.org/mud-talks, through Adobe in Action's Spreaker page at https://www.spreaker.com/show/mud-talks as well as most other podcast hosting services.
New Book Chronicles San Diego's Mid-Century Adobe Family
written by K. Ben Loescher
San Diego has perhaps the largest collection of adobe homes outside of New Mexico, many of which designed and built by the Weir Brothers. Rob Weir, grandson of the famous Weir Brothers construction family, has compiled a remarkable collection of anecdotes and photos from the Weir Brothers forty years of adobe construction. Built during a uniquely optimistic and prosperous time for the region, the homes combine western ranch house aesthetics with Southern California lifestyle preoccupations of the time - broad lawns, swimming pools, and wet bars. All are well documented in this book which was elegantly edited by Scott Hulet of Surfers Journal.
The book is available for purchase online.
K. Ben Loescher is a licensed architect and the principal of Loescher Meachem Architects. Among other endeavors, he sits on the boards of The Earthbuilders’ Guild and Adobe in Action.
Call for Contributions
A Call for Submissions to EarthUSA News
EarthUSA News very much welcomes your contributions. EarthUSA News promotes earth building architecture and construction as well as its cultural, economic, environmental, historical, and social aspects. The target audience of EarthUSA News is not only those directly and indirectly involved in the field but also the general public.
Submissions can include articles, timely news, book reviews, and upcoming events or activities. They should be clearly and concisely written. Photos are also welcome. We reserve the right to edit, postpone, or reject submissions based on relevancy or other matters. We regret that at this point we cannot pay for such submissions. For more information on contributing, please do not hesitate to contact the editor at editor@adobeinaction.org.
