Econotes: Karacadir Center for Sustainable Development San Miguel de Allende, GTO

Located outside of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Karacadir is a center dedicated to environmentally sound construction. Using “earth-bag construction,” Karacadir’s homes follow Santa Fe adobe architecture. The homes are built using recycled construction material, straw bale, cobb and stone as insulation and support, then the walls are covered with plaster and lime wash. A first glance at the center’s website may make Karacadir seem too “eco-hippy” for most, but a closer look at their completed projects shows an ecologically sensitive and elegant southwestern style home.

Aside from contract building, the Center offers a Bioregional Building Program. The 7-day intensive course covers a variety of sustainable building methods such as grey-water management, passive solar energy, composting toilet systems, earth-bag construction and more. The course costs $500 USD for the week and includes materials, meals and camping space. A workshop on building bread ovens is also offered by the Center.

If a seven-day camping course on natural building doesn’t sound like the ideal vacation week in San Miguel, Karacadir can also be contracted for construction projects.

Visit the website: www.karacadir.com for more information. Photos, right, show stages in construction, from earth-bag placement to complete adobe finishing. For more photos of a completed earth-bag home visit:

www.karacadir.com/specialprojects.html