Standards and regulations in earth block masonry - the current situation in Germany

Abstract

In the last decade, the use of earth in construction has become increasingly widespread in many countries. Building with earth can contribute to sustainable development by reducing environmental impact compared with other building materials or systems. This new consciousness has given rise to a growth in the number of earth building standards in recent years, although, in absolute terms, the number is very small compared with other typical building materials and systems. Thirty-nine different earth building standards from 19 different countries were examined. The standards provide varying degrees of technical information. With regard to their scope of application, the documents can be classified into three types, each of them dealing with a particular aspect: soil classification, earth building materials and earth construction systems. In Germany, a revival of building with earth first came about in the 1980s as an awareness of ecological criteria grew. A product of this development was the elaboration of an earth building standard, the 'Lehmbau Regeln' by the Dachverband Lehm e.V., the German national earth building association. That part of the 'Lehmbau Regeln' concerning earth blocks and earth mortars was adapted to the circumstances of national DIN/European building codes and published in August 2013 as DIN 18945-47.