- Earthen Dwelling Structures are residential, agricultural and industrial structures made from "Earth", "Soil", "Loam" and "Aggregate". Earth, also known as loam, is a mixture of clay, silt, sand and larger aggregates such as gravel and stones.
- The means of building are termed:
- Adobe (unburnt mud brick)
- Cobb (mud and straw, hair, grass mixed and applied by daubbing by hand or trowel within a larger wooden framework)
- Wattle & Daub (mud and straw, hair, grass mixed and applied upon a woven wooden mat placed between a larger wooden framework)
- Rammed Earth (dampend earth compressed within a removable framework)
- Sun-Dried Brick (mud and straw mixed as sundried, unburnt brick)
- Soil Block (sundried, unburnt compressed earthen brick)
- Berm (strategically placed and shaped piles of earth)
- Rammed Earth today: utilizes modern machinery and techniques to provide a truly longlasting and comfortable earthen type structure with modern conveniences and styling. Walls are typically "30" thick at the base wall to "16" thick at the top story level of a 6 storey building. All is formed on a cement slab, bedrock or rammed earth foundation.
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Rammed Earth & Adobe walls have a very high thermal mass (ability to store heat), thus making this wall system ideal for use in passive solar home designs. During the winter when the sun's rays penetrate into a room, this free energy is stored in the massive earthen walls. As the room temperature drops at night, the stored heat energy is then available to be released back into the living space during either the night time or a sunless day(s). The result is a moderation in the fluctuation of the room temperature which is not achieved with a concrete structure. During the summer months when the sun passes more directly overhead, and sets in the northwest, passive solar overhangs prevent the direct sunlight from entering into the house through the southern solar window panels. The eastern and western exposures of the house are protected by shading or by an absence of windows. Thus, the thick rammed earth/adobe walls moderate the temperature of the interior of the passive solar house by absorbing the heat of direct sunlight during the daylight hours and releasing this stored heat back into the cooler night-time air. Proper manipulation of the ventilation system introduces cooler night-time air into the interior of the wall system which provides for its cooling release into the living space moderating the afternoon temperature within the dwelling.
- Other Benefits include:
- Earth friendly "green" construction utilizing a continuously available/recyclable earth resource.
- Rock solid, durable, low maintenance wall system of 24" thick Rammed Earth walls give a true feeling of stability and permanence
- Healthy, allergen free indoor environment not affected by weather and with optimum, stabilized relative humidity within the dwelling space
- Quiet, comfortable energy efficient design and performance with fire and insect proof walls
- Earth preserves timber and other organics due to high capillarity and low moisture content which retards mold growth and insect intrusion
- Easy to learn construction & finishing techniques and simple tools used for repairs and additions
- The cost of a rammed adobe earth home is usually comparable to other types of custom homes with the total cost of a structure greatly dependent upon the finishes and detailing chosen by the home-buyer. Wall systems typically represent only 10-20% of the cost of a home. Cost savings may also be generated by the home-buyer in areas of design and construction documentation, and in various phases of the construction process. Careful selection of flooring, roofing(usually the most costly phase), plumbing fixtures, electrical fixtures, and appliances may also aid in controlling costs.
- An open floor plan with a low ratio of wall square footage to the square footage of the floor space will result in an overall lower cost per square foot of the finished home.
- Clay, silt and sand are readily obtainable from a variety of low cost sources and transportation costs for these materials are minimal which means that the total cost of the dwelling is less than building with conventional materials.
- This information is provided as means of dispelling the predjudices and ignorance surrounding the usage of Earthen Materials for the construction of dwelling structures and for providing the support needed to encourage the adoption of these Earthen materials for dwelling structures.
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