SUSTAINABILITY ★
By John
Wells
very little energy input to
form each block. Hydraulically pressed, an allnatural mixture featuring
Chatham clay is formed
into an impre s sively
sturdy block. In fact, the
“compression strength of
properly made CEB can
meet or exceed [building code requirements
for] typical cement or
adobe brick.” Additionphotos courtesy of DigSouthast.com ally, construction projects
featuring CEB enjoy a
myriad of benefits. CEB is
naturally insect repellent,
for example— fire and water resistant, too.
tried to put in a fence once, a few
And while much more information is availyears ago, and it went horrenable on CEB (here: http://digsoutheast.com/
dously. Digging down to anchor
earth-block/), it’s perhaps enough to undera fencepost, I went through a foot
stand that “CEBs are made from the most
or so of fine North Carolina sand before
local material: local earth,” and that all DIG
finding any actual dirt. After only a few
machinery is run on sustainable Piedmont
inches of that, my shovel sank absurdly into
Biodiesel, further reducing the organization’s
a substance whose texture and color I (as
carbon footprint. Green Door and DIG are
a life-long Ohioan) found utterly alien. I
using CEB in the construction of everything
recalled, in that moment, a memory of being
from residential homes and large additions to
a young child, getting my scoop stuck in
bathhouses and backyard offices (although
the ice cream carton: frozen there, immovthey’ve also built treehouses and small
able. After struggling enough to loose my
studies using local cedar). Several of these
shovel from the muck I took a long look at
ventures include first-of-their-kind projects
what I was dealing with, and after a confused
unique in North Carolina to DIG’s experinspection, I remember thinking to myself,
tise, materials, and construction methods.
“Is this… clay? What the heck am I supposed
to do with this?” Years later, having learned
Underlying all the innovation, though,
about Green Door Design/Build and DIG
behind the excitement and fascination of novel
Southeast, projects created and managed
processes, is an ardent idealism upon which
by locals Jeff Gannon and Molly Luby, I
Jeff Gannon and Molly Luby have founded
understand that I may have been asking the
their projects. We are, after all, living—
wrong question. Jeff and Molly see that same
economically, ecologically— in a charged
clay and think, what can’t you do with it?
and precarious era. Ideas like sustainability
Green Door / DIG
I
and green-design that were marginalized
only a decade ago have become recognized
as the only socially responsible way forward
into our communal future. Increasingly,
it seems vital to acknowledge the importance of developing our communities using
local, natural, and long-lasting materials, all
DIG Southeast is a “sustainable building materials manufacturer, specializing in
manufacturing Compressed Earth Block
(CEB),” which uses homegrown Chatham
County clay— and not just for light projects, either. Compressed Earth Block is a
fascinating material, unfired, so as to require
18
more a