Alternative Construction

The first comprehensive guide to combining traditional natural materials and modern construction methods.
From adobe to straw bales, traditional building materials are being adapted to meet code-required standards for health and safety in contemporary buildings around the world. Not only are they cost effective and environmentally friendly, but, when used correctly, these natural alternatives match the strength and durability of many mainstream construction materials.
This book examines a broad range of traditional and modern natural construction methods, including straw-bale, light-clay, cob, adobe, rammed earth and pise, earthbag, earth-sheltered, bamboo, and hybrid systems. It also covers key ecological design principles, as well as current engineering and building code requirements.
Experts on each building system have contributed core chapters that explore the history, development, climatic appropriateness, environmental benefits, performance characteristics, construction techniques, and structural design principles for each method. More than 200 visuals depict both construction processes and completed structures. An extensive resource guide shows where to go for further information, training, and research.
In an increasingly resource-conscious era, alternative construction is truly an idea whose time has come. Whether you're an architect, designer, student, or homeowner, this book will help you to combine indigenous building materials with modern construction systems and design standards to create low-impact, high-quality buildings that meet the highest levels of comfort, health, and safety.Bei Standardbauprojekten kommen Materialien wie Stahl, Holz und Mauerwerk zum Einsatz. Alternative Bausysteme verwenden natürliche Baumaterialien wie z.B. Adobeziegel, Lehm, Bambus und Strohballen. Richtig eingesetzt sind diese natürlichen Materialien ebenso stabil und langlebig wie ihre traditionelleren Gegenstücke, jedoch ohne negativen Einfluß auf die Umwelt. Dies ist das erste Buch auf dem Markt, das eine breite Vielfalt alternativer Bausysteme erschöpfend behandelt. Ein umfassender Leitfaden, der den neuen Trend der Ökobauweise sehr ausführlich diskutiert: Jedes Kapitel widmet sich einer spezifischen Baumethode und erörtert für jede Methode u.a. folgende Aspekte: kurze Geschichte, bio-regionale Eignung, Vorteile für die Umwelt, charakteristische Eigenschaften, Konstruktionstechniken, Anwendungen und Vorschriften. Mit über 100 Fotos zu Konstruktionsverfahren und fertigen Bauten sowie 70 Abbildungen zu Wandkonstruktionen. Die einzelnen Kapitel wurden von Experten der jeweiligen Baumethode verfaßt, so z.B. das Kapitel über Adobeziegel von Michael Moquin, Herausgeber des "The Adobe Journal". Eine Pflichtlektüre für jeden Architekten, Bauunternehmer und Bauherren mit Umweltbewußtsein. (y05/00)

Part I. DESIGN PRINCIPLES

1. Introduction

The Natural Building Movement 3
Lynne Elizabeth

The Realities of Specifying Environmental Building Materials 9
Cassandra Adams

2. A New Context for Building Codes and Regulation 19
David Eisenberg

3. Natural Conditioning of Buildings 37
Ken Haggard, Polly Cooper, and Jennifer Rennick with assistance from Phil Niles

4. Structural Properties of Alternative Building Materials 71
Bruce King, P.E.

PART II. SYSTEMS AND MATERIALS

5. Adobe 87
Michael Moquin

6. Cob 117
Michael Smith

7. Rammed Earth 151
David Easton

8. Modular Contained Earth

Earthbag 175
Joseph Kennedy and Paulina Wojciechowska with special acknowledgment of the work of Nader Khalili

Earth-RammedTires 190
Michael Reynolds

9. Light Clay 195
Robert Laporte and Frank Andresen with special acknowledgment of the work of Franz Volhard

10. Straw-Bale 209
Kelly Lerner, Bob Theis, and Dan Smith

11. Bamboo 235
Darrel DeBoer and Karl Bareis

12. Earthen Finishes

Earth Plasters 255
Carole Crews

Earth Floors 264
Bill and Athena Steen

Part III. APPLICATIONS

13. Integrated Systems with Rammed Earth
Charles Sturt University, Thurgoona Campus,

New South Wales, Australia 273
Marci Webster-Mannison

14. Straw, Clay, and Carrizo

Obregon Project, Northern Mexico 283
Bill and Athena Steen

15. Light-Clay House Additions

School/Residence in Wisconsin 297
Lou Host-Jablonski, AIA

16. Variations on Earthbag

The HoneyHouse—Moab, Utah 309
Kaki Hunter and Doni Kiffmeyer

Residences in Arizona and Wisconsin 313
Dominic Howes

Sandbag House, RumCay Island, Bahamas 315
Steve Kemble and Carol Escott

17. The Value of Indigenous Ways

Habitat for Humanity International 323
C. Wayne Nelson

18. Building Technology Transfer

Raising Straw-BaleHousing for Farmworkers in California 333
Kelly Lerner, Dan Smith, and Bob Theis

Introduction of Straw-Bale Construction to Mongolia and China 339
Kelly Lerner

Epilogue

Finding the Soul of Natural Building 357
Tom Bender

Appendix A

Recommended References 365

Appendix B

Alternative Construction Resource Centers 375

ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS 381

INDEX 387

LYNNE ELIZABETH is a consultant and author on sustainable community development and ecological design. She currently directs New Village Press, a publishing project of ADPSR, and resides in Temescal Commons, a solar-powered cohousing community in Oakland, California.

CASSANDRA ADAMS is an architect and consultant in construction management and ecological design. She has taught architecture, construction, and environmental courses at the University of Washington and the University of California–Berkeley.

The complete guide to selecting and using natural materials for building

Covering a broad range of options for natural building, Alternative Construction examines straw bale, light clay, cob, adobe, rammed earth and pisé, earthbag, earth-sheltered, bamboo, and hybrid systems for residential and low-rise commercial structures.

Over thirty well-known experts on each building system—including Athena Swentzell Steen and Bill Steen (coauthors of The Straw Bale House), David Easton (author of The Rammed Earth House), and Joseph Kennedy and Michael Smith (editor and author of The Art of Natural Building)—have contributed core chapters that explore the history, development, environmental benefits, and engineering and building code requirements for each method. More than 200 visuals depict both construction processes and completed structures, while an extensive resource guide shows where to go for further information, training, and research.

Editors Lynne Elizabeth and Cassandra Adams have provided, in the words of Environmental Building News, "a terrific overview of various methods for building with earth, straw, and bamboo . . . Alternative Construction is an enlightening, sometimes fascinating, combination of voices."

Whether you're a designer, builder, or owner, this book will help you to combine indigenous building materials with modern construction systems to create low-impact, high-quality buildings that meet the highest levels of comfort, health, and safety.