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End of the Cement House Age
national |
housing |
news report
Friday September 08, 2017 12:45 by Mac MacThomais
Cement houses are not the only houses available. In the face of the worst housing crisis since rackrenting of the 19 th century why is Irish society so hung up on cement houses that resemble bunkers.There are numerous alternatives to cement and concrete and most western countries and developing world universities are exploring and investing in education for engineering and architectural studies called biotecture and geotecture knowledge transfer degrees End of the Cement House Age |
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Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6An article from the The Conversation :
https://theconversation.com/the-world-is-facing-a-globa...83557
and a documentary:
http://utahmtb.com/sand-wars-full-documentary/
Adobe houses are found all over sub-Saharan Africa. When animal waste and straw are mixed with wetted mud. then allowed to bake in the tropical sun for several days, the result is thick bricks for building huts. The forests provide plentiful wood for roof frames, except in the denuded areas of the Sahel.
Problems I see in Ireland are our non-tropical sunshine and constant damp. Some adventurous individuals with money have built cement block walls with straw bales in the middle as insulation, but I don't see the big urban 'estate' building firms taking an interest.Uniformity, compactness, and profitability of mass 'units' will continue to be their keynote words.
Its fair to say that cement and the petrochemical industry contribute to climate change however which would you prefer to be airborne during a hurricane or tornado,cement blocks or strawbales? Earthquakes in New Zealand's Nelson city have levelled the region twice in the last century and the only structures to survive were cob/Adobe structures. Engineers and architects have however ignored this phenomenon and rebuilt in cement again! Time to realise the orchestrated dehumanisation of such habitats by the chemical construction industry to purposefully use propoganda to encourage their own materials and not suitable structures for the varied world climates and the appropriate materials to keep its inhabitants safe. The breathtaking arrogance that cement and concrete are a cure all is clearly visible in the rubble of any natural disaster in recent times .
Irish houses were undamaged by the hurricane followed by a storm in the last week.
Good old concrete.
Matchstick American homes would have been blown away.
Americans should build their houses from concrete like the Irish do.
Clapperboard homes in the USA are made from the timber plentifully available in America. Wood is a good insulator in the winter. Wood stoves with their elongated piping burn fuel efficiently and warm other rooms in a house. We didn't get hurricane Ophelia recently - we got the worn-out windy version. Our Irish cement homes would have suffered devastating damage if a real hurricane had swept the land.
Some people, usually city folk who have moved to the countryside, have taken an interest in eco-homes i.e. built with assorted materials, sometimes double cement walls filled with insulating straw, sometimes grass grown on cement or other kinds of roofs, sometimes mud and stone walls. This won't happen in crowded cities, and you need money to buy country land for your dream eco-home. But if you win the lottery and can escape from suburban two-up and two-down semi-detachment, good luck.
Green-Door Ireland is a small 'movement' of people interested in that kind of thing. It's not for the masses.
http://www.greendoorireland.ie/
Other people, in Cloughjordan in Tipperary, have constructed an eco-village with an organic farm, educational and recreation facilities. Again, money is necessary if you want to settle there. http://www.thevillage.ie/