INNOVATION IN VERNACULAR TRADITIONS: PRELIMINARY EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH ON CLAY MIX DESIGN FOR DURABLE POURED EARTH WALLS

Innovative construction materials and techniques can be sourced from natural resources and traditional methods, and applied to green housing concepts to enhance energy efficiency and occupant well-being. Innovation in vernacular traditions can be achieved by integrating the modern, current methods and techniques, materials and tools within local traditional technologies and associated natural raw materials (clay, sand, wood, straw, and wool) in order to enhance ecologic housing facilities with improved overall performance: structural, economic and sustainable. The current paper focuses on development of poured earth walls as an eco-friendly alternative to classic solutions (masonry, concrete walls, etc.), specifically on the clay-based mix design feasible for the poured earth technique. This technique resembles natural concrete, aggregate grains are bonded by clay particles instead of cement-based binding systems, and it offers environmental benefits such as facile recyclability, low impact, and effective hygrothermal regulation, but also brings consistent challenges regarding the proper clay-based earthen mix design. Preliminary and exploratory fresh-state testing is performed on several clayey mixes, in order to identify critical parameters with further relevance to the structural and durability performance, together with specific comparative evaluation and corresponding conclusions related to overall concept feasibility.