Geri Cornier Papercrete home, Alpine.
Continued from page 13.
banks and other businesses.
Often, we would find piles of
shredded paper bags in front of
our house, thrown there from
who knows where.
Building walls and smaller
projects generated much interest
and we were approached mostly
by newcomers to the area who
wanted complete homes. Because
of the low carbon footprint, the
sculptural beauty and other
benefits, the demand for it
snowballed. Gearing up and
getting a work crew together, we
started building homes under the
name eBuilders. We built two
complete homes and made blocks
for two more. They were pretty
conventional designs, with a
traditional metal roof but with a
parapet wall to give them the
look of an adobe house. This was
all very businesslike and rather
20
lucrative, but the fun of building
something unusual with domes
and vaults was missing.
Eventually, working with
Mercedes Lujan and Hiram
Sibley, we started building a
personal home made with PC
vaults and a dome, incorporating
materials salvaged from a movie
set. The main vault was a
Nubian design, which is a classic
shape that is more pleasing
aesthetically than a barrel vault.
The ancient Nubians of northern
Africa came up with a formula
for laying up mud bricks that
gives it the classic shape and also
adds additional strength by
putting the weight directly over
the outside walls where it should
be, eliminating the need for
buttressing. The vault and dome
were plastered with finish stucco
and has no waterproofing. This
allows it to “breathe,” and it has
never leaked in a rainstorm.
The square foot price of a PC
home is not easily calculated, but
a small house we finished in
Alpine came out roughly the
same
as
building
with
conventional lumber framing.
But, notably, it is far less costly
than adobe construction but with
the same high end quality and
characteristics. Using long slip
forms and pouring the wall
instead of making blocks saves
time and keeps the cost down. PC
construction is not rocket
science, so a layman homeowner
could conceivably put their back
into it and really save on labor
costs. Since it can be easily
formed
and
molded
into
interesting
shapes,
vaults,
nichos, carvings, parapet walls
and all kinds of creative features
are open to the imagination. It
also has great possibilities for
sculptors. Even large scale public
art is possible. Having done a few
PC sculptures, I can see how this
could be an ideal artistic
medium.
PC makes a lot of sense in an
age of dwindling resources and
the
necessity
of
energy
conservation. It has very high
insulating R values, saves trees
and landfill space, is great for
soundproofing, and 60% of the
material required to make it,
paper, is free. Civil Engineering
Magazine in 2006 published the
data from tests done on PC at the
University of Arizona and it
passed with flying colors. But
like any kind of building, it must
be done right. The right mixture
proportions for blocks, mortar,
and plaster needs to be adhered
to. City codes must be met. But it
is no longer an oddity. It is a very
practical alternative method of
sustainable building. n
Big Bend Real Estate Guide • May 2020