Organic Brick

Clay is one of the earliest known material used in construction, and the most widely used building material on the planet. Our ancestors have performed the tasks of mixing water with dust to make clay, then shaping it into bricks, bricks into buildings, and buildings into cities for more than ten thousand years. In recent years, 3D printing technology has become increasingly popular thanks to its ability to manufacture complex morphologies and to optimize physical and mechanical properties for specific applications. This study investigates customized 3D clay bricks as a new building material (building component) by employing resources that are eco-friendly, locally available, inexpensive, and driven from recycled sources or waste streams. In this experiment, four different fiber types have been investigated with different clay treatment. The specimens were fabricated in the laboratory and tested with unconfined compression loading. The strength and ductility of the clay specimens were then analyzed based on the experiment results. Several experiments have been conducted during the study for understanding the effects of different fibers when mixed with clay in order to identify which type of fibers and which size has the most effective influence on its compression strength. Furthermore, it has been tested also the water absorption of the 3D printed brick. A case study has been developed to show the actual potential of 3D printed clay bricks for a small housing complex. The project is located in a village near to Abuja, Nigeria, at a time of exponential population increase and associated lack of affordable housing. The 3D printed blocks embed a cooling function, thanks to their geometry and the presence of cooling pipes directly in the wall. The result is a highly flexible envelope, designed to be resilient and energy efficient.

Influence of Building Characteristics and Building Lifespan on Condominium Operating Expenses

This paper is an exploration of building lifespan, building characteristics, and operating expenses. The main objectives are to identify the building component lifespan, including architectural components and engineering components, to determine the pattern of building component replacement life cycle and to examine the relationship between building characteristics and facility operating expenses. The investigation was undertaken through a study of thirty-nine residential condominiums located in Bangkok. The expense data were collected through document searches and surveys with key juristic persons of each condominium. The building service life document was collected from international references and standards. The data were examined using cross-case analysis to identify the lifespan of the buildings and to identify the relationships between the condominium operating expenses and the characteristics of the buildings. It was found that the typical building replacements occur on a broad 60-year cycle that can be subdivided into several phases. Further findings indicate that a significant pattern of building component replacement shifts every two decades through the building lifespan. It was also found that the condominium operating expenses vary according to the building age and building characteristics. Direct variation, inverse variation, and joint variation from the characteristics of the condominium building can be identified. The findings add to the understanding of condominium operating expenses based on building characteristics. The study can provide a reference for consideration of building selection criteria and replacement plans, and for building budget planning based on age and building characteristics.

The Pallet Paradigm: A New Beginning for Pallet Architecture

<p>Timber pallets are too often discarded as waste after their shipping lives. If not rescued for upcycling pallets end up in landfills or burnt for firewood which can release harmful chemicals. There is an opportunity in this resource going beyond current design use to foster a more authentic pallet architecture – one where pallets are utilised to their module’s full potential as a primary and structural building element. This thesis explores to what extent pallets can be utilised in construction and determines their feasibility as structural entities. The themes of modularity and transportability act as key design drivers due to being inherent to the pallets nature. A construction system which effectively uses this nature is the aim, and designed systems are tested through application to the design of mobile architecture. The final outcome of this exploration is a full scale pallet pavilion utilising a modular – authentic – system which enables an easily portable and structural solution. However the application of similar systems to a larger scale is limited as pallets with consistent module and high strength are rare difficult to source. A new pallet design is proposed with inherent application as a building component. This design aims to be a highly precise modular and structural system as its primary function, allowing for universal use as wall, roof and floor. The central purpose of exploration is to create high quality, affordable, efficient and adaptable prefabricated dwellings from an otherwise discarded item – this is the potential for the research in future. If the ‘building pallet’ design was integrated into circulation the impact and application on construction from upcycling them into prefabricated building elements could be worldwide.</p>

The Pallet Paradigm: A New Beginning for Pallet Architecture

<p>Timber pallets are too often discarded as waste after their shipping lives. If not rescued for upcycling pallets end up in landfills or burnt for firewood which can release harmful chemicals. There is an opportunity in this resource going beyond current design use to foster a more authentic pallet architecture – one where pallets are utilised to their module’s full potential as a primary and structural building element. This thesis explores to what extent pallets can be utilised in construction and determines their feasibility as structural entities. The themes of modularity and transportability act as key design drivers due to being inherent to the pallets nature. A construction system which effectively uses this nature is the aim, and designed systems are tested through application to the design of mobile architecture. The final outcome of this exploration is a full scale pallet pavilion utilising a modular – authentic – system which enables an easily portable and structural solution. However the application of similar systems to a larger scale is limited as pallets with consistent module and high strength are rare difficult to source. A new pallet design is proposed with inherent application as a building component. This design aims to be a highly precise modular and structural system as its primary function, allowing for universal use as wall, roof and floor. The central purpose of exploration is to create high quality, affordable, efficient and adaptable prefabricated dwellings from an otherwise discarded item – this is the potential for the research in future. If the ‘building pallet’ design was integrated into circulation the impact and application on construction from upcycling them into prefabricated building elements could be worldwide.</p>

A Century of Use of SOLOMIT Thermal Insulation Panels

This article traces the century-old history of using a thermal and acoustic insulation panel called SOLOMIT. It presents some of Sergei Nicolajewitsch Tchayeff’s patents, on the basis of which production and installation took place. The survey section provides examples of the use of this building component in Australia, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the Soviet Union and Spain. It pays attention to applications in the 1950s and 1960s in collectivized agriculture in Czechoslovakia. It also presents the results of measuring the thermal conductivity of a panel sample, which was obtained during the reconstruction of a cottage built in the 1950s and 1960s of the 20th century. Even today, SOLOMIT finds its application all over the world, mainly due to its thermal insulation and acoustic properties and other features, such as low maintenance requirements, attractive appearance and structure and cost-effectiveness.

Circularity concepts for offsite prefabricated energy renovation of apartment buildings

Deep energy renovation includes the realisation of the full potential of energy performance. A circular deep renovation, which contributes to a circular built environment, is based on 100% life cycle renewable energy, and all materials used within the system boundaries are part of infinite technical or biological cycles with the lowest quality loss as possible. In the current study, the circularity potential was assessed for deep energy renovation from different aspects: circularity of materials, building component and building structure. Careful selection of materials as well as connection, position and disassembly possibilities are needed to increase the degree of circularity. This shows a good possibility to increase energy performance by using circularity principles. The window glass circularity analyse showed that, at best, the thermal transmittance of a new circular product can be more than three times lower than the original. The circular use of materials, components, and structures pose new challenges for the building physic design of building envelope structures.