Building with earth : design and technology of a sustainable architecture

Content: Preface
 1 Introduction
 History
 Earth as a building material: the essentials
 Improving indoor climate
 Prejudices against earth as a building material
 2 The properties of earth as a building material
 Composition
 Tests used to analyse the composition of loam
 Effects of water
 Effects of vapour
 Influence of heat
 Strength
 pH-value
 Radioactivity
 Shelter against high-frequency electromagnetic radiation
 3 Preparing of loam
 Soaking, crushing and mixing
 Sieving
 Mechanical slurrying
 Water curing
 Thinning
 4 Improving the earth's characteristics by special treatment or additives. Reduction of shrinkage cracksStabilisation against water erosion
 Enhancement of binding force
 Increasing compressive strength
 Strength against abrasion
 Increasing thermal insulation
 5 Rammed earthworks
 Formwork
 Tools
 Method of construction
 Shaping of openings
 New wall construction techniques
 Rammed earth domes
 Drying
 Labour input
 Thermal insulation
 Surface treatment
 6 Working with earth blocks
 History
 Production of earth blocks
 Material composition
 Laying earth blocks
 Surface treatment
 Fixing fasteners to walls
 Lightweight loam blocks
 Special acoustic green bricks. 7 Large blocks and prefabricated panelsLarge blocks
 Prefabricated wall panels
 Floor slabs
 Floor tiles
 Extruded loam slabs
 8 Direct forming with wet loam
 Traditional wet loam techniques
 The "Dünne loam loaf" technique
 The stranglehm technique
 9 Wet loam infill in skeleton structures
 Thrown loam
 Sprayed loam
 Rolls and bottles of straw loam
 Lightweight loam infill
 Infill with stranglehm and earth-filled hoses
 Sprayed loam in steel-reinforced walls and ceilings
 10 Tamped, poured or pumped lightweight loam
 Formwork
 Tamped lightweight straw loam walls. Tamped lightweight wood loam wallsTamped, poured or pumped lightweight mineral loam walls
 Pumped lightweight mineral loam floors
 Loam-filled hollow blocks
 Loam-filled hoses
 11 Loam plasters
 Preparation of ground
 Composition of loam plaster
 Guidelines for plastering earth walls
 Sprayed plaster
 Lightweight mineral loam plaster
 Thrown plaster
 Plastered straw bale houses
 Wet formed plaster
 Protection of corners
 Stabillised loam plasters
 Characteristics of different loam plasters
 12 Weather protection of loam surfaces
 Consolidating the surface
 Paints. Making surfaces water-repellentLime plasters
 Shingles, planks and other covers
 Structural methods
 13 Repair of loam components
 The occurrence of damage in loam components
 Repair of cracks and joints with loam fillers
 Repair of cracks and joints with other fillers
 Repairing larger areas of damage
 Retrofitting thermal insulation with lightweight loam
 14 Designs of particular building elements
 Joints
 Particular wall designs
 Intermediate floors
 Rammed earth floorings
 Inclined roofs filled with lightweight loam
 Earth-covered roofs
 Earth block vaults and domes.