Feasibility of integrated insulation in rammed earth

Abstract

Building Codes in Europe stipulate strict thermal performance criteria which any traditional rammed earth recipe cannot meet. This does not infer that the material itself is inferior; it has many other face saving attributes such as low embodied energy, high workability, sound insulation, fire resistance, aesthetics, high diffusivity and thermal accumulation properties. Integrated insulation is experimented with, to try achieve a 0.22 [W/(m2.K)] overall coefficient of heat transfer for walls required by 2015 Slovak standards, without using external insulation or using technologically complex interstitial insulation. This has the added aesthetic benefit of leaving the earth wall exposed to the external environment. Results evaluate the feasibility of this traditional approach.