Earthblocks

I've heard quite a bit about rammed-earth buildings in the past few weeks. One of my biggest reservations about rammed earth is that it is difficult to modify, according to Stewart Brand's How Buildings Learn. While I don't know this for sure, my guess is that modifying a rammed earth building would be similar to modifying a concrete building. In order to maximize a building's longevity, Brand writes that a building must be able to adapt to a wide variety of uses, most of which cannot be easily anticipated. Buildings that are able to adapt to civilization's evolving needs will likely last a long time, which contributes to their sustainability.

So what if you were able to use modular rammed earth units instead of building the walls on site? Of course, someone else has already thought of this and called it "earthblocks" (It may actually be an ancient building material but I really don't know that much about it). These blocks come in a variety of sizes, from brick-sized to concrete block-sized and larger. They also vary in finish from rough to quite refined. In many cases, you can even buy or rent the machine that produces the blocks, so they can be manufactured on site with on site materials!

All in all, I think it's a very intriguing building material. I'd love to be able to test it for outdoor landscape applications such as pavers, retaining walls, benches, and such...

architerials.com


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http://watershedhouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/building-with-rammed-earth-blocks.html#!/2012/10/building-with-rammed-earth-blocks.html