Environmental assessment of rammed earth construction systems

Present concerns for sustainable development have led to a revival of traditional building practices using natural or recycled resources. There is a perception that buildings constructed from such materials are environmentally benign. This perception is questionable, as often no evaluation is undert...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Structural survey 2001-05, Vol.19 (2), p.99-106
Main Authors: Treloar, Graham J, Owen, Ceridwen, Fay, Roger
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Building construction
Cement
Clay
Construction
Construction industry
Economic statistics
Emission standards
Emissions
Energy
Energy efficiency
Environmental impact
Environmental impact assessment
Fossil fuels
Greenhouse gases
Input output analysis
Raw materials
Salvage
Studies
Sustainable development
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Summary:Present concerns for sustainable development have led to a revival of traditional building practices using natural or recycled resources. There is a perception that buildings constructed from such materials are environmentally benign. This perception is questionable, as often no evaluation is undertaken to assess the associated environmental impacts. Rammed earth is one such construction technology that has seen renewed interest in recent years. The energy required to manufacture materials (i.e. embodied energy) is a significant component of the life cycle energy associated with buildings. This paper assesses the embodied energy of rammed earth construction relative to brick veneer and cavity brick construction. Rammed earth was found to have significantly less embodied energy than cavity brick construction (to which it is closer in thermal performance), but was approximately equivalent to brick veneer construction. Topics of further research identified include thermal performance and strategies for reducing the embodied energy of cement used for earth stabilisation.
ISSN:0263-080X
2398-4708
1758-6844
2398-4716
DOI:10.1108/02630800110393680