Twice a year Green Building Workshop participants build either an off-grid school room or a
home that benefits people in need in San Juan Comalapa, Guatemala. This home was built for
a local family interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle. This home was built using
approximately 1500 tires, 600 glass bottles, 5000 ecobricks, bamboo, cob, adobe and a variety
of conventional materials such as cement and rebar. The roof shingles are made by cutting
plastic 3-liter bottles into the shape of a roof shingle and then tacked on. The first course of tires
was laid approximately 1 meter below grade and pounded (with sledge hammer) with gravel to
manage groundwater. The walls are a combination of tires, glass bottle bricks, cob, ecobricks,
and adobe bricks and were covered with a lime finish. The roof trusses are made of bamboo
and the decking is wood planks. Construction happened over about a year, in 2019. Green
builders, Workshop participants, volunteers, teachers, and students all collaborated to make this
house a reality.