Building with earth - Gernot MINKE (1)

Floor slabs
Loam elements which act as infill between
floor joints also provide sound and thermal
insulation (7.10). In Hungary in 1987, the
author of this book developed load-bearing
infill elements with cement-stabilised lightweight
loam. Illustration 7.11 shows such an
element along with its mould. Illustration
7.12 depicts various designs for load-bearing
floor panels.
7.6
internal walls, or to increase the thermal
insulation of exterior walls from the outside.
Cavities reduce weight and increase thermal
insulation, while simultaneously providing
grip holds for easy handling. Illustration 7.6
shows similar elements that can be used for
making vaults.
Prefabricated wall panels
Prefabricated elements, each 6 to 12 cm
thick and measuring between 30 x 60 cm
and 62.5 x 100 cm, have been used for
non-load bearing elements. These should
be made of lightweight loam with the density
800 to 1,000 kg/m 3 . Panels lighter than
800 kg/m 3 must be edged with timber,
since their edge strengths are insufficient for
handling. An extremely light element with
a density of 550 kg/m 3 was developed by
the German firm Breidenbach; it is made of
reed mats plastered with loam and covered
with a jute fabric.
Illustration 7.7 shows a wall built with
“Karphosit” elements, which are produced
from clay powder and straw cuttings, and
have a density of 850 kg/m 3 . They measure
62.5 x 25 x 10 cm. The German firm HDB
Weissinger produces 1-m-wide and up to 3-
m-high timberframe wall elements filled
with lightweight loam (7.8 and 7.9).
7.5
7. 3
7.3 Making lightweight
mineral loam blocks,
Tata, Hungary
7.4 Using lightweight
mineral loam blocks
as external additional
thermal insulation for
a rammed earth wall,
Tata, Hungary
7.5 Lightweight loam
blocks for wall construction
7.6 Lightweight loam
blocks for vaults
7.7 Interior wall from
lightweight loam
panels
7.7
7. 4
70
Larger blocks