NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Natural building

Natural building involves a range of building systems and materials that place major emphasis on sustainability. Ways of achieving sustainability through natural building focus on durability and the use of minimally-processed, plentiful or renewable natural materials, as well as those which, while recycled or salvaged, produce healthy living environments and maintain indoor air quality. "Natural building" is a general term, interpreted slightly differently by each of its typically self-directed practitioners. For other uses, see Building (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sustainable Development. ... A renewable resource is any natural resource that is depleted at a rate slower than the rate at which it regenerates. ... Natural resources are naturally occuring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) form. ... The international recycling symbol. ...

The basis of natural building is the need to lessen the environmental impacts of housing and other buildings, while promoting comfortable, healthy, aesthetically pleasing and spiritually uplifting structures. To be more sustainable, natural building uses primarily abundantly-available, renewable, reused or recycled materials. The use of rapidly renewable materials is increasingly a focus. An emphasis on building compactly and minimizing eco-footprint is common, as are on-site handling of energy acquisition, on-site water capture, alternate sewage treatment and water reuse. Devils Punchbowl Waterfall, New Zealand. ... Kittens are often considered quite cute. ... The phrase ecological footprint is a metaphor used to depict the amount of land and water area a human population would hypothetically need to provide the resources required to support itself and to absorb its wastes, given prevailing technology. ...

Photograph by Patrick Dinnen and released under Creative commons licence. ... Photograph by Patrick Dinnen and released under Creative commons licence. ...

Materials

The materials common to many types of natural building are clay and sand. When mixed with water and, usually, straw or another fiber, the mixture may form cob or adobe (clay blocks). Other materials commonly used in natural building are: earth (as rammed earth or earth bags), wood (cordwood or timber frame/post-and-beam), straw bales, rice-hulls, bamboo and rock. A wide variety of reused or recycled materials are common in natural building, including urbanite (salvaged chunks of used concrete), tires, tirebales, discarded bottles and other recycled glass. Rammed Earth is an old building material that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek low-impact building materials and natural building methods. ... Cordwood construction (aka cordwood masonry or stackwall construction) is a term used for an alternative building method in which cordwood or short lengths pieces of debarked tree are laid up crosswise with masonry to build a wall. ... Timber framing is the modern term for the traditional half-timbered construction in which timber provides a visible skeletal frame that supports the whole building. ... Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation, or both. ... Diversity Around 91 genera and 1,000 species Subtribes Arthrostylidiinae Arundinariinae Bambusinae Chusqueinae Guaduinae Melocanninae Nastinae Racemobambodinae Shibataeinae See the full Taxonomy of the Bambuseae. ... The rocky side of a mountain creek near OrosÃ, Costa Rica. ... The international symbol for recycling. ...

Several other materials are increasingly avoided by many practitioners of this building approach, due to their major negative environmental or health impacts. These include unsustainably-harvested wood, toxic wood-preservatives, portland cement-based mixes, paints and other coatings which off-gas volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and some plastics, particularly polyvinyl chloride (PVC or "vinyl") and those containing harmful plasticizers or hormone-mimicking formulations. Sampling fast set Portland cement Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general usage, as it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortar and plaster. ... Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic chemical compounds that have high enough vapour pressures under normal conditions to significantly vaporize and enter the atmosphere. ... Polyvinyl chloride Polyvinyl chloride, (IUPAC Polychloroethene) commonly abbreviated PVC, is a widely-used plastic. ...

Techniques

Several of the major types of currently-popular natural building will be outlined below, along with the various techniques and materials commonly used. Many of these are traditional pre-industrial methods, techniques, and materials, now experiencing a resurgence of popularity and continuing up-dating, often stimulated by internet specialty discussion lists.

Adobe

One of the oldest building methods, adobe is simply clay and sand mixed with water. Sometimes chopped straw or other fibers are added for strength. The mixture is then allowed to dry in the desired shape. Usually adobe is shaped into bricks that can be stacked to form walls. It has been suggested that Mudbrick be merged into this article or section. ...

Various claims are made about the optimal proportions of clay and sand (or larger aggregate). Some say that the best adobe soil contains 15% - 30% clay to bind the material together. Others say equal proportions of clay and sand are best to prevent cracking or fragmenting of the bricks. Sometimes adobe is stabilized with a small amount of cement or asphalt emulsion to provide better weatherproofing. The blocks can either be poured into molds and dried, or pressed into blocks. Adobe colored with clay and polished with natural oil makes an attractive and resilient floor.

To protect the walls and reduce maintenance, adobe buildings usually have large overhanging eaves and sizeable foundations. Adobe can be plastered over with cob or lime-based mixes for both appearance and protection. Adobe has good thermal mass, meaning that it is slow to transmit heat or cold. It is not a good insulator, however, so insulation can be added (preferably on the outside), or a double wall built with airspace or insulation in between. The traditional thick, un-insulated adobe has proven to perform best in regions without harsh winters or where daily sun is predictably available during those cold periods.

Cob

The term cob is used for a monolithic building system based on a mixture of clay, sand and straw, that uses no forms, bricks or wooden framework. Cob building was in use in England prior to the 13th century, spread to other countries with the world-wide dispersal of English colonists, fell out of favor after World War II, but is seeing a resurgence today. Similar forms of "mud" building have been used in many parts of the world for centuries, under a variety of names, and date from at least 10,000 years ago. Cob is one of the simplest and least expensive building techniques available, though typically very labor-intensive. Its other great advantage is its versatility. It can easily be shaped into any form. While cob building was falling out of favor in England by the late 19th century, thousands of cob structures have endured to the present (20,000 in Devon, alone). It is estimated that from one third to one half of the world's population lives in earthen dwellings today. Although typically associated with "low-rise" structures, in Yemen and other Middle-Eastern countries, it has, for centuries, been used in "apartment" buildings of eight stories and more! // Cob-building is a traditional technique that has been used for thousands of years and in all kinds of climates. ... Interior of a cob house, courtesy of Cob Cottage Oregon File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Interior of a cob house, courtesy of Cob Cottage Oregon File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Cob-like mixes are also used as plaster or filler in several methods of natural building using other materials, such as earth bags, timber frame, cordwood, and straw bales. Earth is thus a primary ingredient of natural building.

Earth bag

Earth is the most typical fill material used in bag-wall construction techniques. This building method utilizes stacked polypropylene or natural-fiber (burlap) bags filled with earth or other mixes, with or without a stabilizer such as portland cement, to form footings, foundations, walls and even valted or domed roofs. In recent years, building with earth bags has become one of the increasingly-practiced techniques in natural building. It facilitates self-contained, often free-form rammed-earth structures. Its growing popularity relates to its use of an abundant and readily available often site-available material (earth) in a potentially inexpensive building technique that is flexible, and easy to learn and use. However, because earth is a poor insulator, in more extreme climates other filler variations are now being explored, substituting pumice, rice-hulls or another material with better insulative value for all or part of the earth (see also Rice-hull bagwall construction) Earthbag construction is a very strong, very cheap way of creating structures. ... Rice-hull Bagwall Construction is a system of building, with results aesthetically similar to the use of earth-bag or cob construction, in which woven polypropylene bags (or tubes) are tightly filled with raw rice-hulls, and these are stacked up, layer upon layer, with strands of four-pronged barbed...

Rammed Earth

Rammed Earth is an earth based wall system made of compacted gravel, sand, and clay; that is extremely strong and durable. Quality rammed earth walls are dense, solid, and stone-like with great environmental benefits and superior low maintenance characteristics. As an option depending on climate or seismic concerns rigid insulation can be placed inside the wall as well as steel reinforcement. A truly beautiful material with a spectrum of color choices and textures the walls evoke feelings of security and strength . Used for around 10,000 years in all types of buildings from low rise to highrise and from small huts to palaces rammed earth has a proven track record. Rammed Earth is an old building material that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek low-impact building materials and natural building methods. ...

Rammed earth walls are formed in place by pounding damp sub-soil(gravel, sand, and clay) into movable, reusable forms with manual or machine-powered tampers. A mixture of around 70% aggregate (gravel,sand) and 30% clay is optimal. Cement may be added if the mix requires it or pigmentation to achieve the desired color. Around 5-10 inches of mixed damp sub-soil are placed inside the forms and pounded to total compaction and the proces is repeated untill the desired height is achieved. What is left after the forms are removed is a beautiful environmental wall that is structural and can last over 1000 years.

Straw bale

Although grasses and straw have been in use in a range of ways in building since pre-history around the world, their incorporation in machine-manufactured modular bales seems to date back to the early 20th century in the midwestern United States, particularly the sand-hills of Nebraska, where grass was plentiful and other building materials (even quality sods) were not. Straw bale building typically consists of stacking a series of rows of bales (often in running-bond) on a raised footing or foundation, with a moisture barrier between. Bale walls are often tied together with pins of bamboo, rebar, or wood (internal to the bales or on their faces), or with surface wire meshes, and then stuccoed or plastered, either with cementaceous mixes, lime-based formulations or earth/clay renders. Bale buildings can either have a strucural frame of other materials, with bales between (simply serving as insulation and stucco substrate), referred to as "infill",or the bales may actually provide the support for openings and roof, referred to as "load-bearing" or "Nebraska-style", or a combination of framing and load-bearing may be employed, referred to a "hybrid" straw bale. Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation, or both. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1632x1232, 721 KB) Straw bale construction of a house in Santa Cruz, California. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1632x1232, 721 KB) Straw bale construction of a house in Santa Cruz, California. ... Genera See: List of Poaceae genera The true grasses are monocot (class Liliopsida) plants of the family Poaceae (formerly Graminae). ... Straw is the dry stalk of a cereal plant, after the nutrient grain or seed has been removed. ... A round baler A baler is a piece of farm machinery that is used to compress a cut, raked, crop (such as hay or straw) into bales and bind the bales with twine. ... Official language(s) English Capital Lincoln Largest city Omaha Area Ranked 16th - Total 77,421 sq mi (200,520 kmÂ²) - Width 210 miles (340 km) - Length 430 miles (690 km) - % water 0. ... Rolled sod Sod is turd and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of this material. ... Look up Foundation on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Foundation may refer to: A type of makeup. ... Stucco is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water which is applied wet, and hardens when it dries. ... // Gypsum plaster Plaster of Paris, or simply plaster, is a type of building material based on calcium sulfate hemihydrate, nominally (CaSOâ‚„)â‚‚*Hâ‚‚O. It is created by heating gypsum to about 150 â„ƒ, 2(CaSOâ‚„ Â· 2Hâ‚‚O) â†’ (CaSOâ‚„)â‚‚ Â· Hâ‚‚O + 3 Hâ‚‚O (released as steam). ... In the most general sense of the word, cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. ... Structural engineering is the field of civil engineering particularly concerned with the design of load-bearing structures. ... The term framing can have several possible meanings: framing (telecommunication), where it relates to synchronization framing (economics), where it relates to rational choice theory framing (World Wide Web), where it relates to the use of multiple panes within a web page framing (communication theory), where it relates to the contextual...

Typically, bales created on farms with mobile machinery have been used ("field-bales"), but recently higher-density "recompressed" bales (or "straw-blocks") are increasing the loads that may be supported; where field bales might support around 600 pounds per linear foot of wall, the high density bales bear up to 4,000 lb./lin.ft. and more. And the basic bale-building method is now increasingly being extended to bound modules of other often-recycled materials, including tire-bales, as well as those of cardboard, paper, plastics and used carpeting, and to bag-contained "bales" of wood-chips, rice-hulls, etc.

Timber frame

The essential elements of timber frame building—joined timbers, clay walls and thatch roofs were in place in Europe and Asia by the 9th century. It remained the common mode of house construction in northern cultures until the 19th century. Craftsmanship was, and is, an important value in timber frame building. The oldest timber frame structures (for example, the timber framed stave churches of Scandinavia) show both craftsmanship and a strong grasp of the technical aspects of structural design, as do such structures in Japan. Timber framing is the modern term for the traditional half-timbered construction in which timber provides a visible skeletal frame that supports the whole building. ... Photo of a completed timber framed structure designed and built by Goshen Timber Frames in North Carolina, USA. Photograph by Patrick Dinnen licensed under Creative Commons. ... Photo of a completed timber framed structure designed and built by Goshen Timber Frames in North Carolina, USA. Photograph by Patrick Dinnen licensed under Creative Commons. ... Thatching is the art or craft of covering a roof with vegetative materials such as straw, reed or sedge. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe. ...

Timber framing typically uses a "bent." A bent is a structural support, like a truss, consisting of two posts, a tie beam and two rafters. These are connected into a framework through joinery. To practice the craft, one must understand the basic structural aspects of the bent. This, along with a knowledge of joinery, are the basis of timber frame building. Truss bridge for a single track railway, converted to pedestrian use and pipeline support. ... Joinery is the part of woodworking that involves the joining together of parts of wood. ...

Related ideas and strategies

Other concepts, methods and strategies often (or sometimes) associated with natural building include: building "underground," earth sheltering, or berming, "green" or "living" planted roofs, thatched roofs and cement-free earthen floors, rubble-trench, or gabion foundations. Earth sheltering is the architectural practice of using earth for external thermal mass against building walls. ... A berm is a level space or shelf separating two features. ... Re-creation of Viking houses in Labrador Several grass roofs can be seen in the village of BÃ¸ur in the Faroe Islands. ... Thatching is the art or craft of covering a roof with vegetative materials such as straw, reed or sedge. ... The rubble trench foundation, a construction approach popularized by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, is a type of building foundation that uses loose stone or rubble to minimize the use of concrete and improve drainage. ... Historically, Gabions were round cages with open tops and bottoms, made from wicker and filled with earth for use as fortifications. ...

To increase sustainability, various approaches to lower energy consumption are used in conjunction with natural building: on-site electric power generation by photovoltaics (PV), micro-hydro or wind generators (either with fully-independent systems referred to as "off-grid" or with "grid-tied" systems feeding into the public electric network), low-voltage electric and avoidance of electro-magnetic and other possibly-harmful forms of radiation, "short-cycle" and "annualized" passive (and PV-assisted) solar space and water heating, biologic air purification by indoor plants, passive or air-to-air/heat-recovery ventilaton, solar or annualized cooling, insulated glazing and selective glazing films, night and cold-weather "movable" insulation, sun-shading. Photovoltaics, or PV for short, is a solar power technology that uses solar photovoltaic arrays or solar cells to provide electricity for human activities. ... Micro Hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up to 100 kW of power. ... A tall tower holds a wind turbine aloft where winds are consistently stronger. ...

Other green building strategies that improve conservation of resources include: rain-water catchment, storage and purification; waste-water separation; biological waste-water purification and grey-water reuse; composting toilets, on-site snow/rain-water run-off management; permeable paving; native or low-water-use ("xeriscape") landscapes, and accommodation of alternative-fueled/powered and human-powered vehicles.

See also

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sustainable architecture. ... A self-sufficient house is one that operates without need for external electricity, natural gas, sewage, or other utilities. ... Superinsulation is an approach to building design, construction and retrofitting. ... Making chirpici bricks Chirpici (read Kir-peach) is a traditional material of construction made out of clay and straws, used especially in the stepes of Southern Romania, in the BÄƒrÄƒgan Plain, but also in other lowlands of Oltenia, Moldavia and Dobruja. ... Categories: Stub | Construction ... Earthships are earth-sheltered autonomous buildings made of tyres rammed with earth, which are usually arranged in a U or horseshoe shape. ... Ferrocement is both a method and material used in building or sculpture with cement, sand, water and wire or mesh material - often called thin shell. ... A section of a cordwood home. ...

References

External links

Categories: Architectural theory | Sustainability | Building engineering Appropriate technology is technology that is most appropriate to the environment and culture it is intended to support. ... An autonomous building is a building designed to be operated independently from infrastructural support services such as the electric power grid, municipal water systems, sewage treatment systems, storm drains, communication services, and (in some cases) public roads. ... // Cob-building is a traditional technique that has been used for thousands of years and in all kinds of climates. ... Composting toilets use biological processes to deal with the disposal and processing of human excrement into organic compost material. ... Ecoforestry is forestry that emphasizes holistic practices which strive to protect and restore ecosystems1 instead of traditional forestry that maximizes economic productivity. ... Ecological economics is a branch of economics that addresses the interdependence and co-evolution between human economies and natural ecosystems. ... Earth sheltering is the architectural practice of using earth for external thermal mass against building walls. ... Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with the study of macroeconomic causes of long term economic growth, and microeconomica; the incentive issues of individual households and firms, especially in developing countries. ... Environmental design is the process of addressing environmental parameters when devising plans, programs, policies, buildings, or products. ... Timber Exploitation of natural resources is an essential condition of the human existence. ... Food security is a term used in development and humanitarian aid. ... Forest gardening (also known as 3-Dimensional Gardening) is a food production and land management system based on replicating woodland edge ecosystems, substituting trees (such as fruit or nut trees), bushes, shrubs, herbs and vegetables which have yields directly useful to humankind. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sustainable architecture. ... Green Chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances. ... Green Computing is the design of technological and computing products that reduce the use of hazardous substances and radiation. ... Green Gross Domestic Product (Green GDP) is an index of economic growth with the environmental consequences of that growth factored in. ... Re-creation of Viking houses in Labrador Several grass roofs can be seen in the village of BÃ¸ur in the Faroe Islands. ... Humanure is a neologism designating human waste (feces and urine) that is recycled via composting for agricultural or other purposes. ... This is a list of companion plant relationships. ... Permaculture Mandala summarising the ethics and principles of permaculture design. ... Rammed Earth is an old building material that has seen a revival in recent years as people seek low-impact building materials and natural building methods. ... Ancient technique re-introduced by Masanobu Fukuoka. ... Autonomy is the condition of something that does not depend on anything else. ... Sheet composting is the process of composting organic matter directly onto the soil as a mulch and letting it decay there, rather than in a heap. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Solar Tower. ... Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation, or both. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sustainable Development. ... Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. ... It has been suggested that Green design be merged into this article or section. ... Sustainable development is an umbrella that attempts to bridge the divide between economic growth and environmental protection, while taking into account other issues traditionally associated with development. ... The earliest mention of the phrase sustainable industries appeared in 1990 in a story about a Japanese group reforesting a tropical forest to help create sustainable industries for the local populace. ... Sustainable living might best be defined as a lifestyle that could, hypothetically, be sustained unmodified for many generations without exhausting any natural resources. ... The Natural Step is a systematic definition of sustainability developed by Swedish scientist, Karl-Henrik RobÃ¨rt. ... Vermicompost (also called Worm Compost, Vermicast, or Worm Manure) is end product of the breakdown of organic matter by special varieties of earthworms. ... A windcatcher (Badgir; Ø¨Ø§Ø¯Ú¯ÛŒØ±) is a traditional Persian architectural device used for many centuries to create natural ventilation in buildings. ... Zoning in Permaculture design refers to a method of ensuring that elements are correctly placed. ... Image File history File links Crystal_128_energy. ... In physics and engineering, energy conversion is any process of converting energy from one form to another. ... // Energy development is the ongoing effort to provide sustainable, accessible energy resources through knowledge, skills, and constructions. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For the physical concepts, see conservation of energy and energy efficiency. ...

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