Thousands of people in Puerto Rico were still living under blue tarps three years after Hurricane Maria struck the island, and more than 30,000 families asked the government for assistance after the storm destroyed or damaged their homes.  This is why Paula Paoli and Owen Ingley are in Las Maras, Puerto Rico, and hope to help homeowners avoid the destruction of houses in the future. The couple are ingtroducing Superadobe domes to help people who have lost their homes replace them with structures that have the resiliency to withstand weather events that devastate Puerto Rico with increasing frequency.

An emergency relief structure could be built for as cheap as $1,500 to $2,000 in materials, Ingley says.  A tiny, more permanent home could be built between the range of $8,000 to $15,000.

The couple founded Plenitud, a nonprofit educational farm and community in the western part of the island. They build these homes as emergency relief and promote SuperAdobe as a alternative to other kinds of new homes. It is up to some nonprofits to further the construction of this type of housing on the island, since it is not an officially approved repair or reconstruction method for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The SuperAdobe construction method is finally coming up to a final assessment by the International Code Council, a body of construction experts and engineers that certifies acceptable methods for construction.

At first glance, a SuperAdobe house resembles an igloo. According to Ingley, earthbag build...