User:Salthering/sandbox

Light Straw-Clay Definition: A mixture of straw (the dried stems of grains, such as wheat, rice, rye, and oats) and subsoil that has a high clay content. Used as a non-structural insulative infill material in building construction.

History of Light Straw-Clay Construction Archaeologists have found evidence that humans all over the world have used straw and clay as a building material for thousands of years. Timber-framed buildings with Light Straw-Clay infill walls came much later in history. Historians suggest this innovation in construction technology was an response to the increasing scarcity of timber as logging of forests began to make solid timber or solid log construction costly.

Franz Volhard and "Leichtlehmbau" Research in Germany Architect Franz Volhard ignited new interest in straw-clay as a building material with his 1983 book "Leichtlehmbau: Alter Baustoff—Neue Technik" (translated "Light Loam [or Clay] Construction: Old Material, New Technique"). Volhard's early interest was in historic preservation, restoration, and adaptive reuse of historic German buildings. In the process of restoring several historic buildings in Dormstadt Germany, Volhard carefully extracted samples of leichtlehmbau. He analyzed the samples for signs of decay and found remarkably little. From these samples Volhard and inspire designers and builders on both sides of the Atlantic.[1]

Recent Research in the US:

[2]

Light Straw-Clay and the International Code Council: