Premium
Sustainable building for the future: Contemporary clay masonry – Resource‐saving building
Author(s) -
Hartmann Raik,
Jäger Wolfram
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
mauerwerk
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1437-1022
pISSN - 1432-3427
DOI - 10.1002/dama.201700727
Subject(s) - masonry , resource (disambiguation) , architectural engineering , civil engineering , engineering , geotechnical engineering , construction engineering , computer science , computer network
Abstract Clay as a building material has a long tradition in Europe, largely losing its importance with industrialisation. Since the 1980s, clay building activity has steadily increased. Standard guidelines (Lehmbau‐Regeln) introduced in the 1990s, however, appear to be rather too cautious when examined in the light of current research findings on the load bearing capabilities of clay walls. Based on the evidence of historic clay buildings, on structural engineering calculations and building physics – the authors' research supports the assumption that masonry with modern unfired clay bricks has a much higher performance potential than previously assumed, which applies particularly to its sustainability. The biggest apprehension relates to the water‐sensitivity of this building material with regard to structural soundness. This can be countered however with the appropriate construction principles.