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 of four interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle. This home was built using
approximately 600 tires, 1300 glass bottles, 1000 ecobricks, bamboo, cob, adobe and a variety
of conventional materials such cement and rebar. 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 first layer of the floor is adobe bricks to ensure
floor insulation. The top layer is concrete and finished by adding a smooth yellow top coat. The
trusses in the roof are made of bamboo and the decking is wood planks. Construction happened
over about a year, in 2018. Green builders, Workshop participants, volunteers, teachers and
students all collaborated to make this house a reality.