APPLICATION OF EARTH AND STRAW MIXTURES IN MODERN BUILDING

Building with earth is widespread and still mostly based on traditional experiences. Increasing demands in energy consumption reduction during the construction and exploitation of buildings put more and more in the focus the good features of houses built with earth.Testing of earth mixtures with other natural materials showed that it can get even a quality of bricks, which indicates the lack of appropriate standards for this type of construction. Testing are performed with mixes of earth and straw intended forrammed earth and adobe construction. This method of preparation and construction applies in alternate construction with straw bales and it is also used in the construction of prefabricated panels with wooden frame filled with a mixture earth and straw where it is possible to build prefabricated structures or as a filling of wall screens in skeletal structural system of larger dimensions and number of floors. Laboratory tests have shown that the mechanical and thermal properties of this material fulfilled the high demands for the construction of modern buildings. Based on the presented results it can proceed the development and testing of structural elements for that kind of building. Also, based on results, in the article the authors presented possibilities of architectural design of various building possibilities of objects, as practical examples of prefabrication applied in some countries.