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I recall a film on ancient building techniques where they layed straw width-wise inbetween rammed earth lifts/layers and the straw stems worked in wicking moisture out of the inner workings of the wall. I imagine their foremost thought was adding strength as seen in the video though now. May 21, 2019 Check out the Rammed Earth Basics course and support this channel! Ray Clamons https://rayclamons.wixsite.com/naturalbuild. More Resources Books. Adobe and Rammed Earth Buildings: Design and Construction by Paul Graham McHenry. The Rammed Earth House: Revised Edition by David Easton. Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques by Kaki Hunter and Donald Kiffmeyer. Earth-Sheltered Houses by Rob Roy. The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book by Mike Oehler. Water Storage: Tanks, Cisterns, Aquifers.
Rammed Earth
Rammed Earth is an over 2,000 year-old construction technique. It is used for building walls and floors with raw materials of the earth i.e. clay, gravel and sand. These materials are mixed together and then rammed in a form work. The result, a strong, durable wall that lasts for centuries or longer (see the Great Wall of China) adds character and a warm feeling to any architectural structure.
Rammed earth has a high thermal mass index which essentially means that it absorbs heat well without releasing it into the interior. Hence these walls provide a strong thermal insulation. This evens out daily temperature variations and reduces the need for air conditioning and heating.
The ingredients include gravel, sand, clay and minerals. The stones provide the structure, and clay is the glue that binds the mix together. If done correctly rammed earth walls are load bearing walls. They can carry the load of a roof or other floors above without reinforcement of concrete or steel.
Rfc reader software for mac. The clay used, comes from the subsoil, leaving the topsoil for agricultural uses. Ideally the soil from the construction site can be used, thus reducing cost and energy of transportation. When the building is demolished, the earth walls return to the soil or can be recycled.
Therefore rammed earth is a prime example for sustainable architecture and sufficiency life style
Chiangmai Life Architecture combines various natural construction materials for a sustainable living environment. Using mainly manual labour instead of machines distributes our money directly to the poorest of our society. It also helps to integrate with the local community and utilize whatever local resources are available.
Rammed earth as load bearing material in combination with bamboo as material with superior tensile strength has proven the material of choice for customers who want to avoid the high carbon footprint of steel and concrete.
Examples of rammed earth wall and floors in combination with adobe brick walls
According to UNEP, buildings stand for 40% of global energy consumption and contribute up to 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Their report also confirmed that the building sector has the most potential for delivering significant and cost-effective GHG emission reduction.
“Countries will not meet emission reduction targets without supporting energy efficiency gains in the building sector.” – UNEP Cement is 14% of global human CO2 production.
According to the IPCC, for every tonne cement produced, one and a quarter tonnes of CO2 are released.
Considering that a majority of buildings’ GHG emissions are primarily from the use of fossil fuel during their operational phase, it is clear that there is a need to address not only the impacts of actually constructing building, but also using them. We need solutions that don’t tackle one problem at a time, but a holistic approach to our global challenges.
It is possible for rammed earth constructions to carry large loads, up to three or four stories high, but not skyscrapers. So why aren’t we saving the cement and steel for skyscrapers and using rammed earth for other housing, clinics, schools and business uses?
ENVIRONMENTALLY SUSTAINABLE
Rammed earth is one of the most sustainable materials available. It has around 70% reduction in embodied energy compared to bricks, a high thermal mass, and as our modular formwork system can be removed and reused during several decades we also produce minimal waste during the construction phase. There’s further no firing process, resulting in zero kilns, zero toxic emissions and zero greenhouse gases.
HIGH THERMAL MASS
Our energy efficient rammed earth walls of minimum 30 cm thickness provides great protection from extremes in climates. The walls collect heat from the sun during daylight hours and release the warmth during the night, when the outside temperature sinks, which makes for a very slow heat/cold penetration. This allows the internal temperature to remain stable, with warmer feelings during the winter and cooler in the summer than outside temperatures. An economic and environmental advantage.
Rammed Earth Construction Techniques Videos
FAST BUILD-TIME
30 years of optimising our rammed earth construction process allow us to build faster than brick walling. The walls are built as a series of independent “monolith panels” made using pneumatically compacted layers of blended quarry aggregates, cement and waterproofing admixtures. We use specialised ‘Stabilform’ formwork that is stripped each following day to reveal massive, beautiful and durable walls.
LOAD BEARING
![Rammed Rammed](https://endeavourcentre.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2017-01-18-at-5.55.53-PM.png)