Essential Rammed Earth Construction

"All of the essential knowledge for completing a successful rammed earth project. Written by a geo-technical engineer with experience ramming earth." -Kelly Hart, author, Essential Earthbag Construction Everything you need to know to build with rammed earth in warm and cold climates. Rammed earth-sand, gravel, and clay or lime/cement binder packed into forms-is a low-energy, high-performance building method, yielding beautiful, sustainable results. It's thermally stable and can be insulated, can actively modulate humidity, provides a healthy indoor environment, and allows site materials to be used for major structural and building envelope elements. Essential Rammed Earth Construction covers design, building science, tools, and step-by-step building methods for any climate, with a special emphasis on building in cold climates of the northern US, Canada, and northern Europe. Coverage includes:

• Overview of earthen building
• Appropriate use of rammed earth walls
• Stabilized versus raw rammed earth
• Design considerations, including structural, insulation, and building envelope details
• Special considerations for cold and freeze-thaw climates
• Construction drawings, with step-by-step building instructions
• Tools and labor covering industrial methods, low-tech techniques, formwork options, mix design, budgets, and schedules
• Codes, inspections, and permits.

This guide is an essential resource for experienced builders, DIY home owners, designers, engineers, and architects. "A much-needed and science-based update to a North American audience of designers, engineers and builders." -Bruce King. P.E., author, The New Carbon Architecture " A great book for anyone who wants to deepen their technical knowledge of rammed earth walls systems. It's very helpful to have a book on rammed earth that is more focused on engineered rammed earth walls for cold climates." -Clifton Schooley, Clifton Schooley & Associates, Rammed Earth Designers and Builders