International Rammed Earth Workshop

On the 7th, 8th & 9th April, 2011 again is a time when we would expect you all to participate in ‘International Rammed Earth Workshop’. Austrian resident DI Hanno Burtscher has been especially invited to pass on his knowledge of rammed earth. You can read more about him, the modules and topic at www.prithwe.com There would be different approach to earth as building material, all the people associated with building material, architects and engineers, nature enthusiasts, clay&ceramic designers, interior designers, permaculture/organic farmers & all others who love nature must come forward and utilize this opportunity to know the mother earth

Other important details:
Workshop Venue: 1 Middle Road, off Napier Road, camp, Pune
Timing: 9am to 5pm
Course Fee: Rs 5999/- 140USD for all 3 days.
Breakfast & Lunch included..

Please write to us for more details. ( visa and staying facility for international & outstation candidates can be organized separately on request)

Regards,
Bharti ( prithwe@hotmail.com)
Prithwe Institute of Building Biology & Ecology
Tel.: 020-26354487 / 020-26343566
www.prithwe.com

US/China Workshop on Earth Based Materials and Sustainable Structures & Forum on Hakka Rammed Earth Buildings (Tulou)’ 2011

The West Virginia University Constructed Facilities Center, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA and Xiamen University Department of Civil Engineering, Xiamen, Fujian, China, in conjunction with the International Symposium on Innovation & Sustainability of Structures in Civil Engineering (ISISS’2011), is pleased to host the US/China Workshop on Earth Based Materials and Sustainable Structures & Forum on Hakka Rammed Earth Buildings (Tulou)’ 2011. The workshop will take place October 28 -30, 2011 at Xiamen University in Xiamen, China.

Thru the proposed workshop, the organizers would like to bring together researchers from the USA and China along with invited participants from Australia, Canada, Japan and UK to conduct a joint workshop at XMU on research potential of earth based materials and sustainable structures. The objectives of the proposed workshop will be: 1) to exchange success stories and lessons learned from the use of rammed earth as a structural material and construction technique for sustainable structures, including review of current rammed earth construction specifications and standards, 2) to address challenges and strategies for advancing the use of earth based structural materials in modern construction, 3) to establish a network of professionals to catalyze collaborative research, development and implementation including international partnerships, and 4) to develop joint R&D programs with emphasis on utilization of rammed earth material in modern construction by minimizing embodied energy. In addition, the workshop participants will have opportunity to witness the sustainability of World Heritage Hakka (ancient) village in-service and learn a few exemplary lessons potentially leading to modifications in contemporary construction techniques.

For more information on the worshop and forum events visit http://www2.cemr.wvu.edu/~rliang/ihta/forum2011.htm. More information on the International Hakka Tulou Alliance (IHTA) can be found by visiting http://www2.cemr.wvu.edu/~rliang/ihta.htm. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Workshop Organizer: Dr. Ruifeng (Ray) Liang, rliang@mail.wvu.edu, (304) 293 9348

PUCP – Terra 2012 – Call for submission of abstracts: Deadline extension

CALL FOR SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACTS: DEADLINE EXTENSION
The organizers of the Terra 2012 Conference are pleased to announce that more than 200 abstracts have been received. In order to meet the request of many people interested in participating in the Conference, the deadline for submission of abstracts has been extended until Monday, March 21st, 2011. For more information go to http://congreso.pucp.edu.pe/terra2012/.

INVITACIÓN A PRESENTAR RESÚMENES DE PONENCIAS: EXTENSIÓN DEL PLAZO
Los organizadores de la Conferencia Terra 2012 tienen el placer de comunicar que se han recibido más de 200 resúmenes de ponencias. Para atender al pedido de muchas personas interesadas en participar en la conferencia se ha ampliado el plazo de recepción de resúmenes hasta el lunes 21 de marzo de 2011. Para más información consultar en http://congreso.pucp.edu.pe/terra2012/.

Windcatcher House

The Begay home is Design Build Bluff’s first project since opening the door to more universities. The students of architecture of the University of Colorado Denver designed a home that responds to a sustainable ethos by using local clay and soils for rammed earth walls and compressed brick for a wind catching chimney which cools the temperature inside during the high summer temperatures. The Windcatcher House, which is totally off-grid and harvests all its water, features an innovative wind tower designed to capture the wind to cool the house.

The Windcatcher House includes local clay for its hand-built compressed brick, as well as the south- and east-facing wall facades. Thermal mass cools the home during the hot, dry summers, and soaks up heat during the very frigid winters. Rainwater is collected from the adjacent carport’s roof and gets reused for the garden.

As with all Navajo Nation homes, this house is nowhere near a power grid, which makes relying on the surrounding earth even more useful and important. The Begays don’t have a car, so they plan to use the carport for an animal barn.

more [ inhabit | university of colorado | green investing ]

EarthUSA 2011

EarthUSA 2011 will be Sep 30, Oct 1 and 2. Location will be at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

This is the Sixth International Earthbuillding Conference sponsored by the Adobe Association of the Southwest and Northern New Mexico College. The National Hispanic Cultural Center and Adobe in Action will also be sponsors. The Adobe Association of the Southwest is expected to turn itself into Adobe USA.

EarthUSA 2011 indicates a wider field of interest than previous conferences and will include adobe, rammed earth, compressed earth block: CEB, and monolithic adobe: cob. Any material or method that uses clay to bind it together is considered.

Calendar:
May 3: Abstracts due
Jun 3: Acceptance notifications
Aug 5: Full Papers due
Sep 9: Proceedings go to press
Sep 30, Oct 1: Conference and Trade Fair
Oct 2: Tour
Oct 3 -7: Classes, Workshops
Oct 1 – 9: Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

Categories/Themes:
1. Contemporary earthen architecture, construction and engineering
2. Historical buildings, farms, villages and cities including cultural connotations
3. Conservation, Preservation, Replication, Remodeling, Modernizing, Re-purposing
4. The role of earthen materials in heating, cooling, sustainable, ecological, renewable and green design
5. Codes, norms, building methods, material science, seismic considerations
6. Earthbuilding education and technology transfer
7. Marketing strategies for earthen materials in the modern world

Conference Languages:
Spanish and English
Papers will be printed in the Conference Proceedings in the language received. Papers received with translations will be printed in both languages PowerPoint presentations are encouraged to be labeled in both languages

Costs:
The Conference Registration will cost $185 USD with reduction for students. Authors and presenters also pay the registration fee. EarthUSA 2011 is a small conference with few financial resources. A one-day tour will be available Sunday for local earthbuilding sites the cost to be determined. Four and five-day courses and workshops October 3 through 7 are being planned and will include basic adobe construction; rammed earth construction; and arch,vault and dome construction.

Submit your abstract as an e-mail attachment in .DOC format no later than May 3, 2011. Please address your e-mail to: Quentin Wilson, Speakers Committee: earthusa.org@gmail.com

For more information and to download the abstract template visit: www.earthusa.org

LEHM 2012

Every four years the Dachverband Lehm e.V., the German Association for Building with Earth, organises an international conference and trade fair on building with earth in a different earth building region in Germany together with an excursion in the region.

We are pleased to announce that the LEHM 2012, the 6th International Conference on Building with Earth, organised by the Dachverband Lehm e.V. will take place from 5 – 7 October 2012 in Weimar, the birthplace of the Bauhaus and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The LEHM 2012 will encompass the conference with presentations and poster session on 5 – 6 October 2012 and an excursion on 7 October 2012. The conference programme will cover the following topics:

-Earth building norms and regulations
-Current research in earth building
-Training and education in earth building
-Sustainability in earth building
-Contemporary earth building
-Earth building in renovation

The presentations, papers and poster session contributions will be published in the conference proceedings to accompany the conference. The ‘Call for Papers’ opens in April 2011.

Wood Marsh Architects Designs Rammed Earth House


Photography by Jean Luc Laloux

Designed by Wood Marsh Architects, this monumental new home in the small town of Merricks overlooks vineyards and Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay. Featuring rammed earth walls, which form the home’s central spine, their design forms shelter against the often harsh coastal environment.


Photography by Jean Luc Laloux

Intended primarily as a holiday and weekend residence, the brief was for a family home that would stand up to the local conditions, requiring little or no maintenance. The client was also keen to ensure that parts of the house could be used, as well as the whole, and as a result discrete openings appear in the central corridor.

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