Covering the material benefits and economics of earth use and zone injection in construction

The economic advantages of the earth construction are so obvious that it would seem that they should not be focused on. However, for the sake of completeness, we will bring them together and clarify what they consist of:

First, the soil, as has been repeatedly noted above, is available everywhere. This is clear, because we live on the planet Earth. Since it is available everywhere, it is, accordingly, cheap. It is difficult to imagine any other material that is more affordable for construction. And often to get it, you can do without any transport costs.

Secondly, the soil is quite easy to form, humanity already has a long history of earth construction and accordingly, certain labor skills. At the same time, we are used to doing without energy costs for drying and firing the soil, whether it is in the form of rammed walling or soil blocks. Tools and equipment for the production of works are usually simple in design, they are not difficult to manufacture and easy to maintain. We will not now touch upon the question of how perfect the applied technologies are. We only recognize the obvious: earth construction has been mastered and is being applied successfully, first of all, in treeless countries. According to the UN, 60 percent of the world's population lives in earth houses. This indirectly confirms that the construction work from earth (soil) is within the power of almost any person, there would be a desire.

Third, the soil provides the same protection from both heat and cold due to its high heat capacity and insulating properties. And this is a clear saving of energy to maintain comfortable living conditions and, accordingly, the cost of its obtaining.

Fourth, earth structures are fire-safe. Earth buildings not only do not burn, but they become even stronger due to the fire. Fires are known to cause great economic damage.

In other words, the economic (in addition to other) benefits of earth construction are obvious. However, why, despite the thousand-year history of using soil as a construction material, its use in the construction of houses is often perceived with doubt and a certain distrust? Why does tradition, especially in areas with temperate and humid climates, prefer the construction of residential structures made of other materials and, above all, of wood and brick?

There are two reasons: technological and psychological.

From a technological point of view, the main problem is that prior to the creation of the zone injection technology, there was no necessary equipment for the production of high-quality soil blocks with the same density and consistently accurate dimensions on site. Manual manufacturing leads to a lot of manual labor, incompatible with the requirements of the time.

On the psychological side, the soil is not prestigious as a construction -material in the eyes of those who think about prestige. And there are many of them in any hierarchically structured society.

It should be noted that there is a seemingly paradoxical trend in the world: in developing countries, earth construction is mainly related to cheap housing construction, and in developed industrial, or rather post-industrial, countries such as France, the United States or Australia, it is mainly related to the construction of housing for people with average and high incomes. For example, in France, the settlement of Le Domane de la Terrre was build using the soil blocks. The residential area in Sesto city (Italy) is being built of the soil blocks.

The explanation is simple, based on the level of everyday understanding: in poor countries, the rich are embarrassed to build their houses from cheap material (not prestigious), and in rich countries, understanding wealthy and environmentally oriented citizens build their houses from material that is better for living. In rich countries that have actually entered the post-industrial stage of development, the problem of earth housing construction is closely linked to the environment, healthy lifestyle and rational consumption of goods. It is in these countries that the so-called "green" movement has developed strongly.

Searching the Internet for information on earth construction (soil) leads, normally, to obtaining comprehensive information of the environmental orientation. If you open a page about earth construction on the Internet, it -often contains information about the use of solar energy, rational use of water, and so on. And in the proposed projects, these lines are brought together as an ecological housing project, "green building" (see, for example, http://www.earthship.org).

The cost structure for the construction of such an "eco-house" in the United States, at a cost of 42 thousand dollars, is as follows.

Of these 42 thousand, just over 13 percent of this amount, or 5.5 thousand US dollars, is budgeted for obtaining a license, designing, etc. 36 percent - for providing solar heat and electricity, water and sewerage.

The costs for installation of the building itself is about 13.5 thousand dollars, or 32 percent, including wall materials (sand, cement, clay, rebar) — 1.5 thousand dollars, or 3.6 percent, plus 500 dollars for stone slabs, which together amounts to 4.8 percent.

Another approximately 3.6 thousand dollars is spent for equipment hiring: an excavator, a compressor for pneumatic ramming, a concrete mixer and other equipment.

Thus, the lowest costs fall on the construction of the "box" of the house, and the highest - for the infrastructure.

In Russia, for several years now, they have been quite actively involved in the problems of eco-houses in the Novosibirsk region. Its own version is being developed in Belarus. However, with regard to building materials, the simplest and most natural - the soil is not clearly used enough. In the Novosibirsk region, the selection is made in favor of hollow bricks made using an economical technology (without firing), and in Belarus - in favor of straw soaked in clay solution (90 percent - straw and 10 percent clay), and a -wooden frame.

It should be noted that the Belarusian version is based on four centuries of German experience in construction of "half-timbered" houses and was brought to Belarus by the German charity organization "Houses instead of Chernobyl", which helped the affected population to construct housing. In fact, if we discard the wooden frame, the first permanent homes of people who moved in ancient times to a sedentary lifestyle in Mesopotamia, were also built of liquid clay and straw. By the way, the wooden frame (with raw bricks) was used by the ancient Greeks.

The Novosibirsk version is much closer to the earth construction of housing under consideration since non-burning bricks and soil blocks are the same thing.

It should be particularly noted that environmental organizations that have taken a course to promote earth housing construction have emerged relatively recently in Russia, and with the use of zone injection technology.

Of course, earth structures have certain specifics, which were reflected in other sections of the Manual. Knowledge of these specifics allows us to get rid of false prejudices in relation to earth houses and correctly use the economic, technological, and operational advantages of earth construction.

The use of the soil blocks is the best solution to reduce the cost of construction, since the future homeowner has the opportunity, having mastered the technology described here, to independently produce most of the construction products required for the construction of the house.

Equipment for production of the soil blocks is produced in a number of countries, including Russia. At the same time, a feature of the designs of all known machines for the production of the soil blocks is that the blocks are made by pressing in closed forms. The technical disadvantage of this technology is described in other sections of the Manual. In this Chapter, we are only interested in the economic side of the issue.

However, before we go any further, we note two things:

• When processing soil with traditional technologies, up to 90 percent of energy is wasted: friction between particles, friction of material against mold walls, compression of trapped air, creation of metering and control devices, as well as production of heavy and durable molds, often several times larger in volume compared to volumes of products made from processed powders.
• A wall made up of blocks with different densities will eventually collapse unevenly from erosion. Traditional technologies are not able to simultaneously ensure the maximum density and dimensional accuracy of the formed soil blocks. This can only be achieved through zone injection technology.

Wall type	Thickness, cm	Materials	Units of measure.	Required amount of material per 1 mg of wall	Material cost per unit of measure, RUB/	Cost of material per 1 m2 wall RUB/	Total cost 1 m2 of wall, RUB/USD
Brick solid, plastered inside	66	brick 250x120x65 мм, solution for a laying solution, solution for plastering	pc. m3	265 0,158 0,025	2,6/0,085 370/12 1317/43,2	689/23 58/2 33/1	780/26
Made of concrete stones with outer facing brick Plastered inside	64	concrete stones volume weight 1400 кг/m3, brick 250x120x65 мм, solution for a laying solution, solution for plastering	m3 pc. m3	0,46 50 0,093 0,025	960/31 3,8/0,12 370/12 1317/43,2	442/14 190/6 34/1 33/1	699/22
Made of soil blocks not stabilized plastered from two sides	64	soil blocks 390x190x90 мм, solution for a laying solution, solution for plastering	pc. m3 m3	75 0,088 0,05	0,22/0,007 370/12 1317/43,2	17/0,5 33/1 66/2	116/3,8
Made of soil blocks blocks stabilized plastered inside	60	soil blocks 390x190x90 мм, solution for a laying solution, solution for plastering	pc. m3 m3	75 0,088 0,025	0,89/0,029 370/12 1317/43,2	67/2 33/1 33/1	133/4,4
Made of soil blocks blocks not stabilized outer facing tile, plastered inside	66	soil blocks 250x120x65 мм, concrete tile 250x250x20 мм, solution for a laying solution, solution for plastering	pc. pc. m3	265 16 0,158 0,025	0,03/0,001 0,93/0,03 370/12 1317/43,2	8/0,27 14,9/0,5 58/2 33/1	113/3,7

It is very effective to use RK unit on the construction site, through which, in addition to soil blocks, you can produce a wide range of products necessary for individual construction, including: shaped blocks, window sills, window lintels, floor elements, paving and facing tiles, paving stones, flat cement-sand tiles, pillars, trays and others.

Using a high-performance RK unit provides an optimal combination of labor, time and money required for construction of the house.

At the same time, the zone injection ensures consistently high quality of manufactured products: extremely dense material structure and precise dimensions when using a variety of materials.

Comparison of prices for construction products that have developed on the market, and the cost of production of similar products obtained using RK 250, speaks in favor of the use of zone injection technology. The initial cost of purchasing equipment is relatively small and pays off quickly.

The house constructed from soil blocks, ennobled by the developer's imagination, will stand without major repairs for many years (remember the Priory Palace). This is another plus to the economic benefits we defined above. You only need to follow the technique recommended in this Manual.