October Buddha Hall Update

The community cheered as an enormous tractor-trailer, loaded with pallets of Faswall blocks, strained to get up the hill to Sravasti Abbey. With the arrival of those blocks, construction on the Buddha Hall has entered a new phase. See the newest update video.

More than 7700 Faswall blocks will form the Buddha Hall’s exterior walls. Crews have already begun to set the first layer of blocks, laying the bottom floor of the two-story temple and library.

If you’ve seen the Abbey’s Chenrezig Hall, you know the beautiful and solid look and feel of a Faswall building. Faswall is earth-friendly and extremely practical, too.

Semi-truck with blocks, nun in front

What is Faswall?

Faswall is a time-tested, non-toxic building system made with recycled materials. Each block contains 85% de-mineralized wood and 15% cement. Faswall has a high insulation value, is virtually fireproof, and is not susceptible to insects, rodents, or rot, so it’s perfect for our climate.

Faswall’s composite materials are all natural and last for centuries. Buddhist values inform our commitment to ensure that all new Abbey buildings are designed to be energy and resource-efficient. That’s why we chose Faswall for the wall structure of Chenrezig Hall, completed in 2013, and Prajna Cottage, completed in 2018.

Two construction workers and concrete blocks

Perfect for our climate

Making walls that are twelve inches thick, Faswall gives an insulation value of R25 and has excellent thermal mass to protect against our cold winters and hot, dry summers. To finish the exterior, we’ll cover the blocks with stucco. Ven. Tarpa sings the praises of Faswall in this video from 2012 when we were building Chenrezig Hall. She goes into more detail about how the process works in this Prajna Cottage video from 2017.

We consider Faswall to be the best product to weather the changes in climate that our region is facing now, as we envision the Buddha Hall to be a place for sharing Buddha’s teachings and training the sangha for hundreds of years.

Cncrete blocks with a cottage in the background

More green features

The Buddha Hall will also include low-flow toilets, energy-efficient LED lighting, and a geothermal pump system that relies on the earth’s natural temperature to heat and cool the building. By pumping in heat from the ground during the winter and transferring heat into the ground during the summer, heating and cooling with geothermal systems cost up to 80% less than traditional HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning) systems.

Block by block, we are building the Buddha Hall together. Thanks to everyone for your support! 

You can help build the Buddha Hall. Make an offering here.

Take a Closer Look

Your help – large or small – contributes to the vision of creating peace in our chaotic world for generations to come.