How to Construct Houses with Plastic Bottles !!

Waste bottles for construction? Yes, it is difficult to think of a bottle as a brick. But a mud-filled bottle is as strong as a brick and whatever you can do with a brick, you can do with a bottle too..Plus it has got lots of advantages too...

This project was done as part of our college activity.The man behind this innovative idea is a german named Andreas Froese,who is also the founder of 'ECO-TEC' .

OFFICIAL WEBSITE : http://www.eco-tecnologia.com

About ECO-TEC

• Found in 2001 by Andreas Froese Germen citizen and its head quarters is at Honduras Central America.
• ECO-TEC has done more than 50 eco friendly projects at Honduras, Columbia, Bolivia.
• ECO-TEC has experience working with Govt, Non-Govt and International organization.
• ECO-TEC has won lot of environmental awards for innovation.
• Developed technology to build with pet bottles which helps to reuse plastic bottles and avoid plastic menace.
• Developed technology to build water tanks with pet bottles.

Being a student of Architecture, I feel privileged to be part of this innovative construction project.

Building with Bottles :

This is an effective solution for reusing the plastic. Bottles have the following advantages over bricks and other construction materials.

1. Low cost - You know how much a bottle costs!
2. Non-Brittle - (Unlike bricks)
3. Absorbs abrupt shock loads - Since they are not brittle,there can take up heavy loads without failure.
4. Bio climatic
5. Re-usable
6. Less construction material
7. Easy to build
8. Green Construction

Step 1: Bottles,bottles everywhere!

The video shows the strength of a mud filled plastic bottle.

When you make a clay brick, the time and energy used right from mixing the clay to baking it in the kiln and taking into account the firewood used for that, you will see that the bottle brick is far more energy-efficient.
The technology also reduces the carbon emission that happens during the baking of an ordinary brick . The heat generation from cement factories can also be reduced as this technology uses only five percent cement. The foundation for the entire construction is obtained from building waste and so the mountains from which granite is blasted out can be saved too..
PET Bottle can last as long as 300 years (undoubtedly longer than the cement used to bind the bottles together in the walls!).

The following picture is of an ecological house constructed in Honduras using some 8,000 PET bottles, in the process freeing up an estimated 12 cubic meters (m3) in the local landfill.

The house also features a living roof (sometimes called a green roof) of sod and turf. Such roofs not only have aesthetic appeal, but tend to insulate the house better than conventional roofs, lowering heating and cooling costs. They are also cheaper than conventional roofs.

When wet, the 102 square meter (m2), living roof of the casa ecol?can weigh as much as 30 metric tons (Mt, toneladas). The PET bottle walls can support the weight.

Comments

[vincent7520]

Idea is wonderful.
However I would be worried about recycling.
True most of the bottles when put to garbage are not recycled.
But they should be… and hopefully they will.
At that time what will happen when you'll have to break a wall ? It may well be that cleaning each bottle to recycle them in dedicated facilities would be too expensive and the bottles would be thrown to the dump.
Maybe I'm totally off the subject !… I'm just asking.
If someone could post just a few words in response to this question I would appreciate. If not, no harm !… :)

[Theuncannie1]

What type of twine or string is being used to tie the bottles together? Is it an eco-friendly product?

[wolfscrypt]

I live in rural new mexico where bottles are not recycled and can be picked up along the roads here in numbers. This is an incredible idea and we are going to give it a shot to enclose our woodfired hottub. With winters at sometimes 20+ below this would make an outstanding building. We are hoping to try it out this summer. Thank you for the great ideas and the work you do around the world.

[tomasihvon]

what i want to know is how did you make the living roof? I've been interested in living roofs for quite some time now, but don't feel like undertaking a full on underground house. Please help?

[ruthy nov]

Thank you for a wonderful idea!
In my country we have large collection baskets on the streets for recycling plastic containers. It is obligatory to do so.
Please tell the exact proportions of sand-clay-cement.
I think the caps should be glued!
a word to LARZE - re-using plastic bottles is so dangerous! No sterilization possible and they become a sourse of deseases. This is done in poor countries like India, bery bad indeed.

[tygger281]

How about making a "sludge" and filling them that way? Leave them out with the caps off for a while - they should dry over time, and that should be able to cut down the filling effort, particularly if you use some sort of filling machine.

I actually came up with a design for doing essentially the same for filling earth tires with perforated cardboard. I looked at patenting it and LO and BEHOLD, someone already did with another type of perforated tube. Go figure!!!

[ve_ness]

The ratio for the mortar mixture depends on the climate in  your area. I work as a commercial bricklayer in Chicago and we typically use type S or N mortar. I use one bag of cement (94 lbs), one bag of type S Lime (40 lb bag), and 64 shovels of sand if it's dry. If the sand is wet then use less.

http://www.graymont.com/applications_mixing_methods.shtmlFurther explanation:

http://www.mc2-ice.com/support/estref/popular_conversion_files/masonry/mortar.htm

Keep in mind that the parts are used by common material measurements used in the US.

OR just save your self the headache if your not a pro and buy  "Masonry mix" which is known by the product name here as "spec mix".

[tygger281]

Hmmm...I have been collecting lovely win and glass bottles for decorating a cordwood masonry house...but now, you have me thinking about using them totally as base material as well. Also, what about using packed plastic bottles for the flooring on top of a gravel foundation?

I would also love to see the innovative application of recycled Styrofoam? I am thinking...could it be shredded and blown into the walls for insulation? Or compressed into cubes for insulation?? Or even bricks? Thoughts? Experience?

[tygger281]

win = wine (too much of it, I guess!)

[sree156]

sir, its an innovative idea which has to be appriciated. but what about the foundation what type of foundation is adopted. and how reinforcement is provided please send me the details. i want to work on this topic and do a project. iam a b.tech student. m email is [e-mail]

[Drakekay]

I wonder what kind of city regulations could impact someones desire to build a house like this? It seems like my city is always ridiculously siting people for stuff.

[tinker234]

wow i love the look of victroe london do you think i could make a home like thhis but give it a classical lool

[alphaseinor]

I like the use of materials, I wonder if this will work in the US... much easier to make curved walls. Not to mention the R value for hot climates!

[Pinky212]

Zoning laws in many localities would, unfortunately, prohibit home building using this unconventional method.  This may be the case in other first world countries, too.  Of that I do not know.

I know a case in Minnesota, U.S.A. where a home owner was forced to remove a wellbuilt and well designed (small Victorian-like) play house for his granddaughters to play in when they visited.  He'd put in many, many hours of work but because he hadn't obtained building permits for this toy and it was a shelter structure that didn't meet the minimum size allowed, he couldn't keep it.  He choose to move it to another location with less strict building codes, etc.  Pity.

[theson]

Building codes , old building codes, I'm from upstate ny usa , this man in near by town got fined for building a snowfort for his kids, because he didn't have a permit.. no joke.

[st.tobi]

please i am from Nigeria and really like the high construction ability that was put into this projects.and i also will want to please ask that; what type of foundation is been use in this type of building construction.u can kindly e-mail the steps of foundation to my to via [e-mail]

[shirleyinkuwait]

Can we fill the bottles with water. Why would that not be an alternative to dirt? Thank you.

[shafeek shajahan]

wt wlhappent if it get leak

[bondel]

sir working on the plastics especially on the plastic as constructive material. and also wanted to aware the people so, that the environment becomes ecofriendly. iam civil engineering student there are arise of several questions in me that the structural efficiency of the building , can a multistory building construction is possible,factor of safety , when fire accident occurs then plastic is burnt many toxic gases are released, many civil questions are there sir. sir can u help me for working on this paper and send data if possible for u sir . my gmail id is [e-mail]

[tatochr]

Love the ideas, but have one concern: In the event of a fire, there is a risk for toxic fumes, how can this be prevented or mitigated?

[rflores8]

Pls help me to know and make this kind of saving act to our environment. if you couold pls sent us the procedure and the materials to be used. i appreciate it a lot. thank you! and hoping for your great response. GODBLESS

[dahut]

This is a particularly good concept where insulating values do not need to be really high, as in the warmer climates. There is something to be said for insulating even there, as buildings tend to be cooler for it. But the structural strength of sand filled bottles cannot be denied. FIlling them and laying them down could be worth the trade off.

Unless, of course, you stand the EMPTY bottles ON END. Ive seen walls built this way elsewhere on 'Ibles, with the bottles captured between two sheets of mesh to hold them together. Finally the whole is filled with mortar mix. You get the insulating value of air filled bottles with the upright rigidity of the bottles own structure.
Add some reinforcing bars to these sections and some posts every 4 feet and there you go

[Snoopytooth]

It doesn't describe how to make square corners and the diagrams don't show that part.

Please can you add to this instructable how to end the straight walls?

[virtualnoodles]

The pictures show corners as Columns with two flat walls coming in at whatever angle you want thats why it says it needs at least three columns you can't build a house with two corners unless you use curved walls

[ve_ness]

IF your not a pro this won't come easy. Laying brick, er bottles, can't be learned over night. Well if you want a good end product that is. You'll need to layout the wall, consider reinforcing, then be able to lay the "corner lead" level, plumb, square (if called for), and in range. IF you can't do so within a certain tolerance you jeopardize the stability of the structure.  If you can, then bravo.

If your a novice the best thing to do would be to hire (or barter) the services of a bricklayer to lay the corners for you. The corners are built first and then the middle is filled in. If you want to play, jump in the middle of the wall where you can be "supervised" by the pros and really can't muck things up too much.

http://www.lets-do-diy.com/Projects-and-advice/Brickwork-and-masonry/Building-a-brick-wall.aspx

[vnithin]

this is very interesting can i know where the details of this construction will be available and i have a doubt plastic will be melted at high temperatures how is this tehnique used in tropical countries

[Ron Burgundy]

Thats how Michael Reynolds builds his bottle walls in his Earth Ships, leave the bottles empty and sealed so they become insulators.
check out
Earthship.com

and stay classy planet Earth.

[vnithin]

Is the strength of this is same as that normal conventional buildings?

[spark master]

See old "Mother Earth News" chord wood housethere is also a beer can house and they used other stuff as well. benefit of empty sealed up bottle is it becomes an insulator.

[spark master]

Everything old is NEW again "The Mother Earth News" had articles on this type of construction back in the 1980's (maybe 70's) I do like the instructable though. If I can find the issues where they show it I will let you know the year and issue. People used Chord Wood and bottles and cans and tires. All in an attempt to reuse the unreusable. thanks for posting this, I will visit their website sparkie

[cyrusdaquigan]

nice one! good construction material alternative.cheap but durable..

[gnoll]

I was curious as to what your measurements were for the "mixture made of earth, clay, sawdust and a little cement." 

Also, if the pillars are the main support for the roof, do you have to use any reinforcement for the walls like rebar?

Thanks so much for posting this Instructable!

[EmmettO]

 I like it. What is being used as mortar here? Another similar ible has in the comments that you do not use cement mortar. Are you only using dried clay as a mortar? If so, how do you make the water tanks? I know that clay is water resistant but it isn't water tight.

[lancesb]

This is crazy, yes I agree with the green factor of production; but how much time & labor is used  in packing the bottles? Wouldn't it be more profitable to recycle the bottles into solid building materials? Roofing tiles, flooring, siding, countertops; the demand for more eco friendly products is finally on the rise, I personally don't think it helps to give out good ideas which may detract from more viable options. This IS a great idea, but the average homeowner will not be able to afford this anytime soon.

[strayturk]

Lancesb, you are right for developed countries where labor is expensive, and materials are not, in contrast to underdeveloped ones where this is exactly the opposite.

[Purocuyu]

It might be crazy for a first world economy, but I think in other places, it can make sense.  I lived for a few years in rural Mexico, and the people there have way more time, and energy than they have money.  
This doesn't seem to be a project intended to maximize profit.  It seems to me to be intended to allow people with modest means, but with serious drive to build a house.  Within those confines, doesn't it seem to be successful?  
I imagine some people would look at this and think,"what a drag to fill all those bottles" but maybe if those people had no home, but plenty of dirt, and maybe some bottles, they might think it is a viable option.

[Pinky212]

I understand completely where you are coming from.  When people have little or no money and a lot of time, it is time well spent (invested) to create something usable and needed even if the "average" person would not spend the time doing it.  Most 2 worker families in the U.S.A. don't have (or take) the time to bake bread and other bakery items, cook meals, or sew clothes and decorative items.  However, seniors and disabled persons on a limited income (and often at or near the poverty line) who are physically able to spend their time doing those tasks, save (or don't spend as much) money.  Remodeling clothes, hemming pants, hemming and/or remodeling curtains, etc., given to them or purchased cheaply at garage sales/thrift stores can take alot of time.  But, again, it's time well spent for the person who has little money.

[ElmoRoyD]

I agree, i live in México, I am mexican. I worked in a project of PET bottles recycling, and you are right, if your "job" is to gather plastic bottles from the trash, to sell it at $1.50 Pesos, that is less than .15 dollar cents for kilo. You do have a lot of time and energy.

Here in Mexico we dont have problems with recycling, people can throw beer cans in the streets without feeling guilty about pollution. Someone else is going to pick it up and sell it. Actually i never put cans in the trash can that is outside of my house, i just put them aside, that way is easier for them.

[benedict688]

Are you saying that people can be employed to collect recyclables in mexico? In california there are designated areas that you can take recyclables to be recycled and get money for them, but theres not jobs for people to go and find the recyclables. Hope that makes sense, just interested.

[ElmoRoyD]

mh, no, you dont actually are employed to collect recyclables, people do that couse they dont have/want any other job. Nobody pays you, you need to sell those materials in to the scrap yards.

I dont know if im explaining this right.

[arifiana]

I'm from Indonesia and here some people also make living by collecting recyclables. usually they do it because they don't have certain skills to apply for a job, too poor to start their own business and don't have anything to get loan from banks. this kind of 'job' called 'pemulung', they collect valuable material like plastic cups, bottles, papers, glass, or whatever they could sell to 'pengepul', somebody who will buy what they have collected and sell it to anybody who need it or for recycling purpose. there will be somebody who need this 'trash', so usually a 'pengepul' is rich because whatever they buy from 'pemulung', they will always somebody who want to buy it.

[strayturk]

You can use Irfanview. It's an awesome image viewer/editor program that also has FLV capability, and it's free. http://www.irfanview.com

[Alfredo Harmsen]

I can not watch the videos.  Is it possible to have them with other program?  Thanks   Alfredo

[dufferdev]

superb work... too good... where is it Made... Can I come to see it ???
Thanks..........

[nav.sparx]

Have a look at www.eco-tecnologia.com

[andreasfroese]

 We have done projects in
Honduras
Colombia
Bolivia
India
www.eco-tecnologia.com

[nav.sparx]

Sir , what project are you presently working on ?

[andreasfroese]

 preparing a water tank project in Africa and other in Chile

[8bit]

Is this easier than making bricks?

[andreasfroese]

you need 2-3 minute to fill one bouttle and no machine
www.eco-tecnologia.com

[valhallas_end]

If you could speed up the filling process, this would be so much faster - homemade bricks are a pain to cure properly (I cannot count how many times I've laid out a batch to dry, then realized too late I'd added too little clay or some small detail, and Crack!). I love the texture you can get with this system.

[Light_Lab]

I have seen something like this done with empty glass beer bottles here in Australia. It seemed a great idea as the bottles let in light like amber glass bricks. I always wondered though how you discouraged critters from taking up residence in the bottles (unless you recapped them). This is not a problem with sand filled plastic bottles, and the construction is more flexible.
I wonder if you could conveniently combine rammed sand plastic bottles with rammed earth car tires. Use the tires for the columns/pillars, and bottles for the walls.  

[the crowing]

This is such a cool idea. I love it!

[porcupinemamma]

go to this site and enjoy every one!

http://www.agilitynut.com/h/bh.html

[harshada]

this is amazing..
i want to know where this thing is constructed.. i would love to visit the place.... please share the infor as early as possible i m quite keen.....

[porcupinemamma]

Me too!

[polana]

Why do we fill the bottles with sand for?? Why don't we use water or better leave them empty (fill the with air)???

[juanoporras]

Because the empty (air) bottles are more susceptible to collapse with heavy loads; if you fill them with water the problem is that water spans and contracts with temperature changes, same problem with air, so the house will "move" and create cracks on the mortar. sand is the best environmental and structural choice which is one of the main reasons of this project. somebody tell me i'm wrong.

BTW really nice project, thanks for sharing, I will certainly use these tips ;).

[A good name]

It isn't an innovative thought. Mike Reynolds has been doing the same thing since like 1970.

[Anathema_Herem]

Amen and amen. If one is more interested in this type of building, look up Earthship Biotecture. Mr. Reynolds has created houses that are art forms.

http://www.earthship.net/

One of these years I'll have the land to build one, myself. Ah, dreams.

[pinkhairkid]

its on my bucket list whenever I find myself with a lot of time and a lot of plastic bottles, ill do it

[azntrooper93]

WICKED first i thought u were just making the foundation or something thats really cool but wont it erode fast

[porcupinemamma]

Excellent!!!!

[larze]

I think the bottles would be better saved for recycling as liquid containers. They are not ecological because to produce them you need so much oil, especially to replace the bottles which would go off circulation. Better to emit a bit of CO2 for bricks than emit a lot more CO2 because of oil for bottles and use the increasingly scarce oil, in my opinion. But in innovational sense, this instructable is great anyway.

[Javin007]

I think you miss the point here. They wouldn't produce bottles to build houses (notice that the bottles are all different brands.) These are bottles that would otherwise end up in a landfill, or even be recycled, which chemically is not nearly as good as it sounds.

[larze]

No no, I didn't think they would produce bottles for house building, that would be just too crazy. :) But with recycling I meant reusing the bottles, sorry for the confusion. In my country the plastic bottles are so sturdy that they reuse them. Okay -- then there is still the problem with the weak bottles not really suitable for reuse, at least not many times even in private use.

[Javin007]

Ahhhh, I see. Here in the U.S. the bottles are so incredibly thin, they're completely useless for reuse. Yes, reuse would definitely be far preferable. The weak bottles though are just there to add structure to the "bricks." Individually, they wouldn't hold up a house, but together and with filler between them, they would be plenty strong. Imagine that you're essentially building a house out of mud, but using the bottles as a binder to give that mud stability.

[Atomman]

Truly Amazing. Where did you get the bottles?

[genesis2000]

its looks like brasil to me

[smessud]

I guess you could add water and cement to clay and pour the mix into the bottles. What about the heat from cement? And the effect of shrinking? You need the bottle well filled to be sturdy. You could certainly bring the time of making one "brick" under 30 sec. Even if you need to vibrate it a little, it would be less than a minute to make one. That's a rich man (understand occidental) solution, but it looks like a lot of work to make a brick. I wonder if the very low friction between PET and cement could be a structural problem? Last thing is : as the bottles are very regular in size, a wooden guide would certainly speed up the laying of bricks and mortar (especially for pillars). Very nice system anyway.

[cowscankill]

That is soooooooo awesome. I don't know why we don't build more bottle houses.

[Kenmundo101]

Amazing idea... voted AND really like

[yokozuna]

five stars, voted, faved.

[Mortokeiro]

Fantastic idea!
I'll try to do that!
but a small wall or pillar to beguin!
=D

[Dimitrios]

I love the idea. Just wondering if a funny guy opens the caps and the sand flows out.... Or same thing if a heavy object flies against the wall, there is only like one inch surface concrete (plaster) if that cracks and bottle cap cracks, one empty bottle. If I can collect enough bottles I might actually try this for a fence wall. Just worrying about the dry sand in the bottle that can run out like water

[radiochemist]

to ensure that doesn't happen, maybe you can try adding a little bit of water to the dry sand bottles before you put the cap on

[nav.sparx]

Good question..Since these bottles are filled with sand (ofcourse very tightly, which helps to build up good pressure inside it),there's little chance that the cap will break.

[Arghus]

no way, if u look at the picture u see the part with all the caps its covered by the cement like mixture

[zippydaspinhead]

Do you use cut up plastic bottles for the shingles on some of the houses? If not another way to reduce cost of the roof and the amount of plastic going to waste. Just an idea

[Coffee bean]

Very nice, but were did you get all those bottles!

[nav.sparx]

From restaurants,supermarkets,neighbourhood houses etc ... :D

[rookie1]

Great instructable. I really like the idea. If you want a green roof, what do you use as a base for your roof? What do you use as a vapor barrier ?

[nav.sparx]

The angle of the roof should be greater than 30 degrees. Typical sheds will already have an asphalt or bitumen felt layer for waterproofing. Green roofs require an additional layer of water proofing material, and this needs to be root-proof. For this you can use heavy-duty pond liner. Only a single sheet is required, which can be fixed with a strong mastic sealant. In case of vapour diffusion through walls,Gypsum have virtually no ability to block it. Neither does the brick. But here,plastic bottles can prevent it to a large extent. However,it is not enough. About choosing the insulation material , You could say all insulation is green, regardless of what it's made of because by definition, insulation saves energy. :) .You can use polythlene , fibre glass or cellulose. Current building science recommendations are to locate the vapor retarder in the thermal envelope (exterior walls and ceiling/roof) depending on the climate zone. Heating-dominated climates require an interior vapor retarder. Cooling-dominated climates require an exterior vapor retarder. In mixed climates it is often better to have none. It is also important to allow water vapor to diffuse out of the building envelope (outward in heating climates, inward in cooling climates).

[Yeah Yeah 5166]

do u.s. codes allow this medium of building material? I consume a fair share of bottled drinks and would love to find a way to reuse them.

[Lithium Rain]

Very nice! I very much like this.

[IdahoDavid]

WOW!!!! It's a stack log house without the logs. What an incredibly innovative use of waste resources for the self-builder. I am inspired.