Sustainable Building with Earth

575 Pages·2015·29.31 MB·English

by  Horst Schroeder

Horst Schroeder
Sustainable
Building
with Earth
Sustainable Building with Earth

Horst Schroeder
Sustainable Building
with Earth
Horst Schroeder
Weimar , Thüringen, Germany
ISBN 978-3-319-19490-5 ISBN 978-3-319-19491-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-19491-2
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015947254
Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
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Printed on acid-free paper
S pringer International Publishing AG Switzerland is part of Springer Science+Business Media
(www.springer.com)
Translation from German language:
Cornelia Theimer Gardella / Kurt Gardella,
Erfurt, Germany and Santa Fe, NM, USA
Graphic works: Katharina Triebel, Leipzig,
Germany

Foreword
E arth has been used as a building material for millennia. Architecture in the ancient
cultures of Egypt, the Middle East, China, Central Asia, and Latin America was
closely tied to this material. In Central Europe, as well, there is archaeological evi-
dence of the use of earth as a building material for thousands of years. Within the
individual regions, practical experiences with the material and the resulting building
rules were passed down for generations leading to construction methods which
were affordable and optimally developed for the respective climates. The buildings
were constructed from locally available materials which were sourced using envi-
ronmentally friendly methods. Earthen structures blended well into the landscape
and shaped the picture of rural regions and urban settlements over the centuries.
“Recycling” of the buildings did not pose any problems: earth building materials
could be reused indefi nitely or could be returned to the natural cycle without harm-
ing the environment.
I n modern times, all of these aspects can be more or less summed up under the
term “sustainable building.” For a long time, building materials and architectural
design were mainly assessed in terms of structural design, material technology, and
economy. Today, however, ecological criteria, particularly a building’s energy con-
sumption and its impact on the environment, have become increasingly important in
the interest of sustainable development. Clients are requesting nontoxic, healthy
building materials which create a comfortable indoor climate. Other popular aspects
are the sensual characteristics of building elements, such as unusual textures as well
as pleasant tactile surface qualities and a wide range of colors. These add to the
desirability of earth as a building material.
In this context, earth can be seen in a new light after years of being marginal-
ized from conventional construction by industrially mass-produced building
materials. Today, private as well as public clients are increasingly opting for the
building material earth.
vii
viii Foreword
T his book describes the planning and execution of earth building projects from a
modern perspective: it highlights the preservation of traditions for historic conser-
vation and renovation projects while, at the same time, showing current trends in
modern earth building. Special emphasis is placed on aspects of sustainability and
on how earth can be combined with other “modern” building materials.
The idea of the life cycle of earth as a building material is the recurring theme of
this book: it covers all of the processing steps of the soil including the sourcing and
extraction of the material, the soil’s preparation and processing into building materi-
als and building elements, the useful life of the fi nished building and its mainte-
nance, and, fi nally, the demolition and recycling of the building which completes
the cycle. Today, the life cycle model of a building material is a generally accepted
methodological approach which is used for the quantitative recording and assess-
ment of the production of building materials and building products with regard to
sustainability.
T his book sums up my years of experience working with earth as a building
material. It refl ects the knowledge I have gained through my practical work on
building sites, as part of my research and teaching at the Bauhaus University in
Weimar, Germany, and as a consultant for various national and international organi-
zations and clients. Above all, it has been my 20 years of serving as the President of
the German Association for Building with Earth (Dachverband Lehm e.V.), as well
as professional exchanges with members of the association while working on
numerous projects, which have contributed to the writing of this book.
The fi rst German edition, published in 2010, was soon out of print. The second
edition was published in 2013 and incorporated many changes, especially the newly
published DIN standards for earth building materials. Many of my international col-
leagues have expressed an interest in an English translation of this book. Together
with my publisher, I have now decided to respond to this wish and hope that the
English translation will be met with the same level of interest as the original German
version.
T he second, revised German edition, which has been reviewed and slightly
updated, serves as the basis for the English translation. I hope that earth builders
worldwide benefi t from this book.
Weimar, Germany Horst Schroeder
March 2015
Contents
1 The Development of Earth Building........................................................ 1
1.1 Historical Roots of Building with Earth ............................................ 2
1.2 Earth Building as Cultural Heritage ................................................... 10
1.3 Historical Development of Earth Building in Germany .................... 13
1.4 Earth Building Today: Ecological and Economic Aspects ................ 22
1.4.1 Sustainable Building .............................................................. 23
1.4.2 The Life Cycle and Material Cycle of a Building .................. 26
1.4.3 Environmental Management and Life Cycle Assessment ..... 33
1.4.4 Economic Aspects .................................................................. 41
1.5 Classifi cation of Earth Building as a Field of Science ....................... 42
1.5.1 Terminology ........................................................................... 43
1.5.2 Building Material and Building Technique ............................ 43
References ................................................................................................... 44
2 Construction Soil – Sourcing, Extraction, and Classification ............... 47
2.1 Natural Soils ....................................................................................... 48
2.1.1 The Formation of Natural Soils ............................................. 48
2.1.2 Designations of Natural Soils ................................................ 53
2.2 Construction Soil ............................................................................... 60
2.2.1 Terminology ........................................................................... 61
2.2.2 Sourcing ................................................................................. 62
2.2.3 Testing and Classifi cation ...................................................... 68
2.2.4 Extraction, Transport, and Quality Monitoring ..................... 106
References ................................................................................................... 109
3 Earth Building Materials – Production, Requirements,
and Testing ................................................................................................. 111
3.1 Processing of Construction Soil ......................................................... 112
3.1.1 Natural Processing ................................................................. 112
3.1.2 Mechanical Processing ........................................................... 113
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