Most Sustainable Building Material

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There are so many billions of used tires laying around the world, and so much free dirt to fill them with and lay, like made in place bricks. It seemed like the natural thing to do for the garbage warrior Mike Reynolds. Do it yourself or with communal help, no mortgages. Grown inside food traded among villagers. Building both super-insulated by the dirt, and foam and blown in cellulose, able to withstand the ravages of time as long as stone. Mostly self heated by the sun and solar powered, with backup systems. Composting toilets, and solar ovens. Aquaculture in some. Electric vehicles charged by the sun for around the village travel. A small manufacturing base to replace panels and batteries, motors, and other needs, with the sum total of human knowledge stored in books and on discs. Replaced as needed for continuity. The threshold of a dream that is true. To help heal the Earth, but, alas, too few of us to make the necessary difference. For us, sustainability is a Holy Word, confident that that is what our benevolent and loving God wants. There is a phrase to Him, "Forgive them for they know not what they do". That is the problem, with greed---universal ignorance.

Originally Posted by nrdthxpr

I know of some one who built their house with recycled automobile tires, the whole tire each placed one on top of the other, insulated with some sort of plaster compound, or maybe concrete. The walls are three feet thick. That's how I would build my house.

Tires would be a good bet, rubber lasts for a long time!

Originally Posted by philliprye

i have to argue that cellulose insulation is a very sustainable building material. ground up newspaper, recycles newspapers, or from trees. someone below mentions straw. that is a great idea also but no that great for practical applications.
phillip rye
Phillip Rye
Energy Efficient Home Design by Phillip Rye - Energy Expert - GUARANTEED utility bills. Make your GREEN home a reality

In the Solar Living Sourcebook of the time period we built, it was stated there was enough rice straw burned yearly in California alone, that if baled, would have been enough to super-insulate(R-40+) all the exterior walls of all the houses built yearly in the USA. Of course, wheat straw bales are also used in construction. Each bale can hold 5 tons, and usually with higher loads are used as infill. Otherwise they are lap stacked with bamboo or rebar verticals to stick the bales together and a wood box bond beam on top. Good if there are bales locally at a reasonable price. They have a big protective overhang for the stucco finish. "The Strawbale House" is a good start, just like "Earthship" is a good start for that type of eco-construction. Of course, eco-construction also depends on what is available locally(indigenous materials, water, and energy), do-it-yourself amount, and codes/covenants. Sustainable has to do with using as many re-used and recycled things as possible, in addition to using what can be sustainably grown and made nearby. Eco-homes have natural landscaping so usually don't need a push lawn mower, and do-it-yourself eliminates the contractor profit expenses.

Originally Posted by Val

In the Solar Living Sourcebook of the time period we built, it was stated there was enough rice straw burned yearly in California alone, that if baled, would have been enough to super-insulate(R-40+) all the exterior walls of all the houses built yearly in the USA. Of course, wheat straw bales are also used in construction. Each bale can hold 5 tons, and usually with higher loads are used as infill. Otherwise they are lap stacked with bamboo or rebar verticals to stick the bales together and a wood box bond beam on top. Good if there are bales locally at a reasonable price. They have a big protective overhang for the stucco finish. "The Strawbale House" is a good start, just like "Earthship" is a good start for that type of eco-construction. Of course, eco-construction also depends on what is available locally(indigenous materials, water, and energy), do-it-yourself amount, and codes/covenants. Sustainable has to do with using as many re-used and recycled things as possible, in addition to using what can be sustainably grown and made nearby. Eco-homes have natural landscaping so usually don't need a push lawn mower, and do-it-yourself eliminates the contractor profit expenses.

Here's a great Earthship video with links to many more;

YouTube - This Is Action

"We need a billion of these, NOW!" Mike Reynolds

There is strong evidence that cargo shipping containers are one of the best source of a very sustainable building material to use to build houses that can even stand a hurricane as you can see here: http://www.isbu-news.org

Re-using old, out of service, cargo shipping containers, may be good as long as they don't have to be transported far, and are in an area where they won't rust, or made rust-proof. Otherwise, their best use is to be recycled, seeing they are a refined metal.
Amazon.com: The Race for What's Left: The Global Scramble for the World's Last Resources (9780805091267): Michael T. Klare: Books

The situation with the most sustainable building materials is very peculiar, because the MOST sustainable building materials are soil, rock and lime, which can be found almost in infinite numbers.

But these materials don't have such properties as many modern materials do have. You cannot build such tall buildings with them (therefore you need more area for the buildings), they aren't suitable for every climate or they aren't that safe. (when we take in account earthquakes etc.)

As I mentioned in my thread about adaptive reuse - now we really need to focus on effective use of every building that have available.

High rise buildings are kind of a waste of energy, and monuments to human unsustainable practices including overpopulation. The use of indigenous materials can include re-using an existing building. Existing buildings can be super insulated with straw bales or more thickness with re-used rammed earth tires. Added mass to walls can be used with solariums to heat buildings and provide food gardens impervious to weather. Shaded in summer yields cooling effects of the mass.
Properly built straw bale and Earthship(TM) style buildings are resistant to earthquakes and with the Earthship, high winds.
The problem of more area needed for more buildings is solved by reducing population to sustainable with green low impact living. Re-using buildings with added mass, passive solar, added insulation, and water catchment/re-use systems, also need alternative independent power with solar panels and wind generators, along with solar thermal hot water systems, and gardens for food. The old high rises should be recycled to lower energy independent types, as population lowers to long term sustainable for the region.