Environmental assessment of rammed earth construction systems

Treloar, Graham; Owen, Ceridwen; Fay, Roger

doi:10.1108/02630800110393680

Cited by 37 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Several earth construction practices have been found to incorporate high embodied energy due to adoption of technologies similar to modern construction techniques (Treloar et al, 2001). According to , loam is always reusable and unbaked loam can be recycled an indefinite number of times over an extremely long period.…”

Section: Arguments In Favour Of Un-stabilised Earth Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stabilised or unstabilised earth construction for contemporary urban housing?

Zami

Lee

2010

5th International Conference on Responsive Manufacturing - Green Manufacturing (ICRM 2010)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Environmental sustainability is a major challenge and built environment professionals are facing a colossal challenge to seek out solutions. There is evidence to support the use of contemporary earthen architecture in developing countries to firstly, address the housing crisis, and secondly, to also address excessive carbon dioxide emissions, global warming and climate challenges. Contemporary earth construction exists in two major formats: un-stabilised and stabilised earth construction. Surprisingly, the vast majority of built environment experts are reluctant and oppose to prescribe stabilised earth as a solution of urban housing crisis and environmental sustainability. More too, the definition and meaning of stabilised earth construction is misunderstood amongst construction professionals. This paper examines the meaning, relevance and reasons of the use of stabilised and un-stabilised earth in the construction of urban housing in developed and developing countries. In doing so, it explores the arguments in favour of stabilised and un-stabilised earth construction.

show abstract

Section: Arguments In Favour Of Un-stabilised Earth Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stabilised or unstabilised earth construction for contemporary urban housing?

Zami

Lee

2010

5th International Conference on Responsive Manufacturing - Green Manufacturing (ICRM 2010)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Recently, however, the sustainability and economic benefits offered by these materials have led to a renaissance for earthen construction techniques [10,9,7,11]. In addition to the sustainable nature of the material, local sourcing of resources and the avoidance of the need to use cement (thereby significantly reducing the amount of CO 2 released per unit length of wall (http:// www.bre.co.uk/greenguide), earthen structures are able to 'breathe', resulting in comfortable internal living environments throughout the year and negating the need for artificial ventilation [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structure creation in earthen construction materials: information from dry soil mixtures

Beckett

Augarde

2011

Front. Archit. Civ. Eng. China

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is increasing interest in the use of earthen construction materials, such as rammed earth, due to their inherent sustainability. These materials have been used by man for thousands of years and some of the earliest examples can be found in China. Features of the structures of these materials arise from the means of production. In particular, in situ earthen construction materials exhibit strong anisotropy due to their layered nature. A more subtle structure effect arises from the way that the earth mixture is deposited. This paper reviews and discusses stratification effects in dry soil mixtures, including some original experimental work, and indicates some links between the features of the dry mixtures and earthen construction materials. Improved understanding of the physical processes in play will allow more accurate specification of these materials in the future, and hence spread their use.

show abstract

“…Thus, the focus and mission of ongoing research and development activities is geared towards complementing government efforts in shelter provision by availing sustainable eco-materials and ecotechnology for all, viz, materials/technologies that are environmentally friendly, locally based, culturally acceptable, affordable, structurally sound and durable. Earth-based materials are proving to be the grand eco-materials of this century (Venkatarama et al 2010;Graham et al 2001;Martins et al 2015;Oyawa 2004). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a two-storey model eco-house from rammed earth

Oyawa¹,

Njike²,

Musiomi³

2015

Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Performance-Based and Life-Cycle Structural Engineering (PLSE 2015)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The use of conventional building materials is facing two main challenges of excessive cost and large-scale depletion of the sources thus creating environmental problems. These challenges demand that alternative building materials be explored that are not only affordable but are also environmentally friendly. In this regard and inspired by the global need for sustainable development, earth(soil) is re-emerging as the grand eco-material for building construction due to its availability, environmental/cultural appropriateness, structural adequacy, familiarity to the local people, "breathability", health benefits, amongst others. This paper presents results of experimental work in Kenya aimed at utilizing earth in formal housing constructions with a view to alleviating the severe housing shortage in the country. Studies were conducted on structural performance of various types and blends of earth material, from which a suitable blend was selected and used to construct a model two-storey rammed earth building. The model house had load-bearing walls of rammed earth, and a hollow-pot reinforced concrete slab containing light-weight stabilized soil blocks. The rammed earth two-storey model house was tested for vertical load resistance using sacks of sand. Results obtained from this study indicate that certain blends of local earth materials had higher stabilized block strengths than the standard dressed stones which are normally used in construction in Kenya. Further, the model ecohouse was able to resist applied vertical loading with minimal deflections within the standard requirements. The model house has been in use as an office building for over four years with negligible deterioration in terms of material erosion or cracking or deflections.

show abstract

Environmental assessment of rammed earth construction systems

Cited by 37 publications

References 3 publications

Stabilised or unstabilised earth construction for contemporary urban housing?

Stabilised or unstabilised earth construction for contemporary urban housing?

Structure creation in earthen construction materials: information from dry soil mixtures

Development of a two-storey model eco-house from rammed earth

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About