Eco Friendly Rammed Earth Houses

Rammed Earth or Taipa is an ECO Friendly method of construction which is gaining popularity for its energy efficiency strength and durability.  In past when ECO Friendly housing was not chic but a survival mechanism Rammed Earth Houses were build all over the planet for there insulation against weather. Using raw materials of earth, chalk, lime and gravel Tapia is a truly ECO Friendly method of construction that results into beautiful energy efficient houses that are also considered to be breathing structures.

Along with being ECO Friendly and energy efficient rammed earth houses are also A grade water, weather, fire and rot  proof. Rammed Earth construction is based on ancient art of compressing damp earth mixture into a frame or mold of a wall.

The following points shed some light on the sustainability, ECO Friendless and Energy Efficiency of aspects of a Rammed Earth:

• Rammed Earth Houses are sustainable because they are constructed from locally available  materials.

• Rammed Earth Houses releases very little heat in there construction process compared to  cement which makes ECO Friendly.

• Rammed Earth Houses needs little maintenance against weather damage making it a sustainable alternate to wood.

• Rammed Earth Houses is ECO Friendly and sustainable due to its energy efficiency, the insulation against the out side's environment in Rammed Earth Houses is remarkable, considerable temperature difference can be attained with little passive ventilation in these houses.

• Rammed Earth House are a great non polluting low cost sustainable housing solution for third world countries.

• Rammed Earth Houses can be heated with passive use of solar energy and because Rammed Earth Houses have excellent insulation so the benefits of trapped solar energy can be enjoyed for a longer time period.

Types of Rammed Earth constructions:

• STABILIZED RAMMED EARTH: These walls are 300 or 400mm thick with high thermal mass. They are ideal for internal walling or external walling that does not require a high R-value.

• INSULATED STABILISED RAMMED EARTH: These walls are 400mm thick with a 50mm Styrofoam insert.Walls are structurally integrated using patented Earth Structures stainless steel bridging pins. These walls achieve a 2.48 R-value. They are useful for achieving higher external wall R-value levels.

•  ELEVATED STABILISED RAMMED EARTH. These are built as pre-rammed panels and lifted in place using technologies similar to concrete pre-cast panels. They are specifically for buildings with difficult access.

Famous Rammed Earth Buildings:

• Parts of Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain (shown) and the Potala Palace in Lhasa are built from Rammed Earth.

• Parts of Great Wall of China are made out of  Rammed Earth.

• Fujian Tulou is a unique Chinese Rammed Earth building of the Hakka people in the mountainous areas in southwestern Fujian, China.

• West Africa, Mali, Mopti mosque is one of the largest Rammed Earth structures.

• Aït Benhaddou is a large Rammed Earth ksar situated on a caravan route between the Sahara desert and Marrakech. In 1987 the ksar became a UNESCO world heritage site.

Eco friendly houses of Syria

Syria has more to offer then just Fattoush & Bashsr al Asad. Using completely natural local materials, Syrian bedouins have been making Eco friendly houses that look like giant like Beehives. These Eco friendly houses have thick walls which helps naturally cool the interior by keeping out the sun, and acting as a thick insulation for the heat to permeate. The walls are made from mud bricks, stacked in a giant circle. The circles of these Eco friendly houses are close in to a conical shape and capped off by a dome.

Beehive Eco friendly houses can be found in the thick of hot deserts and cities all over Syria. Most of these Eco friendly houses are found in rural farming communities, but there are even villages located in Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, which has been continually inhabited since the 6th millennium BC. The Aleppo beehive Eco friendly houses are used for both storage and residences.

The interior and exterior walls of these Eco friendly houses are packed with straw and mud. Built in the arid desert, the mud walls dry to a hard and durable finish.

The top of the beehive Eco friendly houses dwellings have an oculus – a hole that provides light to the interior and sucks hot air up and out. Even though there is a hole at the top of these Eco friendly houses, the conical shape keeps the interior dry during the rare rainy season. The shape also enables rain to quickly drain off of the façade, meaning minimal mud erosion on the exterior of these Eco friendly houses.

The interiors of the beehive Eco friendly houses are very dark, as most are built without windows. Although inconvenient, this protects residents from the harsh desert winds, and blocks out the sun. With these natural heat-beating factors in place, the interior of these Eco friendly houses remains around 75-85 degrees Fahrenheit, while the outside desert can blaze up to a blistery 140 degrees!

These Eco friendly beehive houses have been keeping desert dwellers across the Middle East sustainably cool and comfortable for centuries, and continue to do so even now.

Prefab light bulbs for prefab housing

If your house is going to be prefab then why can’t your light bulb be prefab as well? Isang Literong Liwanag or A Litter of Light is an innovative renewable lighting solution for the poor that requires nothing but solar energy for illumination.

This cheap, solar-powered bulb is actually just clear plastic soda bottles filled with a mixture of purified water and chlorine or bleach which is commonly used in household cleaning products. Inserted halfway into a hole on the roof and sealed around the rim to avoid leakage. These DIY solar powered bulbs can give off light equivalent to a 55-watt electric lamp as the water inside the bottle refracts sunlight and other exterior light.

Thousands of these lights have been installed in the slums around Manila. Litter of Light is a perfect lighting solutions for disaster stricken areas with make shift homes. Countries like Pakistan with grave electricity shortage should install such light in schools and offices to reduce the strain on the national grid and reduce energy cost as well.

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Posh Prefab house

Looking for a sophisticated prefab retreat, Sommerhaus Piu prefab house by Patrick Frey & Björn Götte is the answer. Located in Germany, the wooden prefab is simply laid out, elegant in form, and completely versatile depending on your needs. This prefab design draws upon the beauty of the surrounding landscape, with its slightly pitched roof angles for increased light. The large deck of Sommerhaus Piu prefab house extends the living quarters into the great outdoors.

This two-bedroom wooden prefab cabin can be used as a vacation home, studio space, home office or even a primary home. Coming in at less than 70 sq meters, there’s enough room for two simple bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchenette and an amply sized living and dining area in this sleek prefab house. Sommerhaus Piu prefab has floor-to-ceiling sliding doors; for bringing the views in & expanding the living space to the outdoors. An abundance of daylight flows into the public spaces while the back bedrooms of the prefab are more intimately covered for privacy.
Sommerhaus Piu prefab house has large roof overhangs protecting it from the elements, letting in filtered light through the slats to the clerestory windows. A high window reaching from the kitchen into the bathroom pulls light into the inner recesses of this prefab home. The exterior is clad in thin horizontal strips of naturally finished wood, accented with slate colored slats. Patrick Frey and Björn Götte designed prefab home enables people to spend their time in a place which they can afford, not only in summer, but all year round.

Story & Photo Credit: Inhabitat.com