Materials for sustainable architecture in the Mediterranean region

Abstract

There has been recent increased use of earth for construction of buildings in developed countries, largely because of concerns with the environmental impact and embodied carbon from fired bricks and cement based products. Of all forms of earth construction, the widest impact on modern construction is likely to come from commercially produced unfired earth masonry where large scale production can significantly reduce costs. The use of traditional materials in the Mediterranean area needs to be reassessed with a thought given to environmental sustainability, but also with an eye to the reappropriation of the predominantly massive nature of Mediterranean architecture. This article contemplates a particular material, in the shape of clay. To assess reduction of resource consumption, the first thing to do is to consider building material choices; initially, origin and have to be checked. Similarly, the production of building and demolition waste has to be considered. The aim is to select processes, materials and technical elements that are characterized by the lowest rate of energy consumption, during the production stage, and building systems that entail the lowest consumption rates during the construction stage