Sustainability of Earthen Construction in North Cyprus

Authors

  • Ayşe Pekrioğlu Balkıs
  • Mete Mutlu Balkıs

Keywords:

Earthen Construction, Sustainability, Indoor Comfort

Abstract

Sustainability depends on the maintenance of the natural world and natural resources. Built environment has the greatest impact on environment. Reducing energy consumption of construction and life cycle of the buildings will contribute to the sustainability. In this study, traditional structures of North Cyprus and their effective structures for environment protection have been analyzed. Traditional structures in Cyprus were built with natural materials such as stone and earth that creates healthy indoors, concerning the climatic conditions. Structures constructed with industrial materials no longer provide indoor comfort. Lots of energy is being used to provide indoor climate in today's buildings. A very large part of consumed energy in Cyprus is being used by residential sector. Earth is a natural building material made from sand, clay, and water. They may also be produced with some kind of fibrous or organic material (sticks, straw, dung) which is shaped into bricks using frames and dried in the sun. Earthen structures are extremely durable and account for some of the oldest extant buildings on the planet. Earth's strength and durability can be improved if needed. Dense forms of stabilized earthen construction have high thermal mass and able to store heat and provide long term energy savings for cooling in summer and heating in winter so, provide bioclimatic comfort for health with a suitable humidity and thereby balance indoor climate. Due to their high thermal comfort and being cultural characteristic properties of Cyprus, sustainability of Earthen structures are important. Earthen construction is not meeting with today's requirements because it has some disability such as low water resistance and low earthquake resistance. But these properties can be stabilized with gypsum. Revival of earthen construction will protect earthen architectural heritage.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Akta9, T., 2008. Restoration of Earthen Building on Zahra Street-Letko Kerpic08 Learning from earthen architecture in climate change International Conference, Cyprus International University

Anne, J., 2007. Sustainable sourcing of renewable materials, Reed Business information, Inc. V.44

Blondet, M. & Aguilar, R., 2007. Seismic Protection of Earthen Buildings. Conferencia Internacional En Ingeniera Sismica. Lima, V 22

Holtzhausen, H.J., 2007. Embodied Energy and its impact on Architectural Decisions, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment 102 pp. 377-385.

http://folk.ntnu.no/fossumj/cpx/cardhouse2_e.h tml NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology

I Ik, B. & Tulbentci, T., 2008. Sustainable housing in island conditions using Alker-Gypsum stabilized earth: A case study from Northern Cyprus, Building and Environment, Elsevier Volume 43, pp. 1426-1432

Kafes9ioglu, R., Toydemir, N., Ozuekren, B. & Gurdal, E., 1980. Yap1 malzemesi olarak kerpi9'in al91 ile stabilizasyonu Stabilizing earth with gypsum as a construction material), Istanbul, TUBITAK MAG505

Kafes9ioglu, R., Gurdal, E., 1985. <;agda Yap1 Malzemesi Alker, Enerji ve Tabii Kaynaklar Bakanhg1 Enerji Dairesi Ba kanhg1, Shell, istanbul

Kafes9ioglu, R. & Gurdal, E., 2003. <;agda yap1 malzemesi-Alker-Al91h Kerpi9.

Kafes9ioglu, R. & I 1k, B, 2005. The Relevance of Earth Construction for the Contemporary World and Alker, Gypsum Stabilized Earth, Kerpic05 conference, ITU Suleyman Demirel Kultur Merkezi, Istanbul, 6-10 July

Middendorf, J., 2001. Properties and Methodology of Earth Structures, GSD 6400: Energy and Environment

Minke, G., 2006. Building with Earth: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture, Birkhauser Architecture Press

Neufert, P, 2002. Architect's Data, Blackwell publishing

Ozbekoglu, 0 2008. Revival of adobe for eco-turizm, Kerpic08, Leaming from earthen architecture in climate change International Conference, Cyprus International University, Lefko a / Northern Cyprus

Ravikumar, P. & Prakash, D, 2001. Analysis of thermal comfort in an office room by varying the dimension of the windows on adjacent walls using CAD: A case study

Ronald, Rael., 2008. Earth Architecture, Princeton Architectural Press based on numerical simulation , Building Simulation , V.2 pp 187-196

Salihoglu, T., 2008. Ekolojik Mimari ve Kerpi9 Kerpic08, Leaming from earthen architecture in climate change International Conference, Cyprus International University, Lefko a / Northern Cyprus

Y1ld1z, K & Gokdemir , A, 2007. The Effect Of Ferrochrome Waste And Polypropilen Fiber Admixture On The Strength Of Adobe, SSN:1306-3111 e­ Joumal of New World Sciences Academy, Volume: 2, Number: 4 Article Number: A0037 Natural And Applied Sciences Civil Engineering

Downloads

Published

2012-11-17

How to Cite

Pekrioğlu Balkıs , A. ., & Balkıs, M. M. . (2012). Sustainability of Earthen Construction in North Cyprus. ICONARCH International Congress of Architecture and Planning, (ICONARCH-1, Proceeding Book), 147–155. Retrieved from https://iconarch.ktun.edu.tr/index.php/iconarch/article/view/66

Issue

Section

Environmentalist Technologies and Architecture