An eco-house is a completely autonomous building that has its own heating, power supply, ventilation, etc. systems. Such houses are being built all over the world today, they are able to process their own household waste, and then dispose of them without any harm to the environment. The use of natural building materials in the construction often allows you to build a house with your own hands or with minimal involvement of builders.
As a building material for an eco-house, environmentally friendly, renewable materials that have excellent thermal insulation characteristics are used. Building materials for building an eco-house have natural ventilation and air exchange.
Eco house design
The architecture of an eco-house should, first of all, ensure the lowest consumption of energy resources and create optimal operation for all bioenergy systems. When designing an eco-house, it is very important to consider, first of all, the following:
- An eco-house should have special zoning, where its heated part should be the smallest. It is best in the process of designing an eco-house on your own, to divide the entire structure into a heated zone and a periodically heated area in the off-season.
- The correct location of the heated part of the house to the elements of the farmstead is the key to an effective reduction in energy resources, and leads to the least heat loss in the winter.
- The construction of an eco-house should be carried out in stages, the same applies to equipping an eco-house with various engineering equipment.
- In an eco-house, a natural ventilation system should be provided due to the complete tightness of the house.
- An important point in the construction of an eco-house is its correct location on the land, relative to the landscape, and the methods of conducting subsequent work on a suburban area. All available engineering systems in an eco-house should provide the user with autonomous supply of hot and cold water, electricity and ventilation, as well as the disposal of all waste.
DIY construction
When building an eco-house, an important criterion is its location, since it is necessary to use the energy of the sun to the maximum, both for heating all rooms and for heating hot water, and this must be taken into account when designing a house on your own. A house located correctly relative to the south will allow using the maximum amount of solar energy, thereby reducing the load on existing engineering systems.
Location selection
When choosing the location of the eco house and its correct placement on the land, it is very important to know that the eco house should not be shaded from the east side, and especially from the south and west, since the efficiency of the eco house completely depends on this.
After choosing the right place for building an eco-house, they proceed to the direct construction of the building with their own hands. The main components of the body of an eco-house are its durability, good thermal insulation, as well as excellent mechanical strength. Along the entire perimeter of the eco-house, special buffer zones are installed, which can provide it with additional protection for the preservation of heat. Subsequently, it is possible to attach both a summer veranda and a workshop or a garage to the body of the eco-house.
Eco house thermal insulation
When building an eco-house with your own hands, increased attention is paid to the so-called "cold bridges", where cold can enter the house from the street. In the northern regions, during the construction of an eco-house, the creation of an additional thermal mask around the entire perimeter of the house should be provided. The thermal mask is constructed from heavier building materials. During the day, such a mask is able to effectively accumulate solar heat, and at night it effectively retains it.
If an eco-house is built using frame technology, then its outer perimeter is usually made of light natural materials, such as straw. In this case, a system is installed in the house, which is an active heat accumulator. As such a system, both a conventional heater and an open chimney can act.
Foundation
Like all buildings, an eco-house also has a fundamental foundation. Depending on the type of soil on which the structure is being built, as well as the depth of groundwater and flood regimes, the following types of foundations can be used in the construction of an eco-house: strip, columnar, or various small-block types of foundations. Along the perimeter of the entire foundation, it is imperative to arrange a reliable drainage system.
Walls and cladding
The walls of the eco-house are multi-layered and have up to four layers. The first layer consists, as a rule, of whitewash, wallpaper or paint. The second layer consists of plaster, as well as a vapor barrier and a load-bearing wall. The third layer contains insulation, which is often used as straw. The fourth layer is a ventilated gap and a facade cladding material. In order to further provide for the stratification of the walls of an eco-house, it is necessary to use special screeds in the process of erecting its walls.
The wall cladding of an eco-house is most often made of wood, decorative brick or plaster and can be done by hand. The main criterion when choosing a facing material for an eco-house is its increased resistance to various atmospheric precipitation.
In foreign countries, in particular in the Scandinavian countries, ecological housing has already become a familiar option for a private house. Eco-houses are comfortable for residents and safe for the environment. Own heating system operates without the use of fuel, and organic waste is processed in a natural way and becomes fertilizer for the garden plot. Let's take a closer look at what non-traditional technologies can be used in the house to make it environmentally friendly.
Features of insulation and heat supply
Usually, the heating system of a house functions by burning fossil fuels: fuel oil, coal, gas, and even firewood. During the combustion process, a large amount of waste products enters the air. How to avoid it? Firstly, you should insulate the house as much as possible, and secondly, it is worth considering alternative energy sources. A heat pump or solar panels require a significant initial investment, and using a cavitator is an economical option, although not familiar to most owners.
Oddly enough, houses made of clay, sand and straw have gained immense popularity. Round-shaped buildings perfectly retain heat in the southern regions, but they are not suitable for northern latitudes with harsh winters.
Arrangement of an eco-house during construction
Ecological materials for building a house are considered to be any natural resources - wood, stone, brick, made, as you know, from clay, clay itself, straw blocks.
In the northern and temperate latitudes, wooden buildings are preferred - warm, "breathing", the most suitable for a changing climate. Depending on the type of soil, a pile or strip foundation is erected, a log house is installed on it, for the construction of which wood can be used in any of its manifestations: roundwood, glued laminated timber, logs.
Sheathing is made with wood board, clapboard, block house. Between the walls of the log house and the sheathing, heat-insulating mats with vapor protection are laid. The optimal material for windows is a three-layer glued beam, which has the thermal conductivity of wood, but is more durable. The foundation is decorated with stone or ceramics, which not only serve as an element of decoration, but also protect the lower part of the building from moisture and wind. Thus, the house turned out to be environmentally friendly. How can the heating system be arranged so that it does not contradict the general trend?
Softwood veneer, which is the basis of glued beams, gives the structure extraordinary strength and durability. In addition, log houses do not need additional finishing work, as they look quite presentable.
Hydrodynamic fuelless heat generator
The operation of the heat generator with a cavitator is ensured by connection to an electrical source, without which the operation of the pump motor is impossible. The principle of cavitation is based on the fact that the liquid, circulating in a closed circuit, gradually heats up, that is, it does not require additional heating by the boiler, which usually results in the formation of scale. Modern equipment is equipped with a cavitator installed in the circuit. It does not play a role in heating the liquid, but the main conversion of kinetic energy into heat occurs in it, and besides, it serves to protect the pump from premature wear.
The heat generator circuit diagram includes: 1 - main pump; 2 - cavitator; 3 - circulation pump; 4 - electric / magnetic valve; 5 - valve; 6 - expansion tank; 7 - radiator.
The efficiency of the fuel-free heat generator can be increased by using an additional storage tank and a "warm floor" heating system. To ensure a sufficient amount of hot water, an indirect heating boiler is connected. A solar collector can become a spare, and in the summer season the main source of heating. Thanks to solar systems, the heat generator is completely turned off in the summer.
To connect the heat generator, it is enough to connect it to the power cable and two pipes of the heating system: inlet and outlet. As you can see, it takes up little space.
The use of cavitation in water supply
Cavitation is very useful if the eco-house is located far from civilization, and water from nearby sources needs to be disinfected. Let us first consider the traditional methods of water purification, and make sure that the hydrodynamic technology has undeniable advantages.
Traditional water disinfection technologies
Some of these methods are used everywhere, others are used occasionally, but they are known to everyone who studied physics and chemistry courses at school:
- chlorination;
- ultraviolet irradiation;
- ozonation;
- iodization;
- ultrasonic disinfection.
The most popular method of chlorination has as much benefit as harm. Not only does chlorine destroy far from all bacteria, it is involved in the synthesis of new substances that are toxic and dangerous to health. Of course, the environmental friendliness of chlorinated water for home use is out of the question.
Ultraviolet radiation is useless for the neutralization of water with turbidity and the presence of suspensions, so this method is good only for a transparent liquid. Ozone does an excellent job of cleaning water, but its production requires high voltage and a large amount of electricity, moreover, the substance itself is toxic and explosive. Ultrasonic technologies are underdeveloped, the main development has been found so far only in medicine - for the disinfection of instruments. The use of iodine, which is in demand only for cleaning pools, is also little involved.
Ecological hydrodynamic method
This technology is so effective that it allows you to purify water on an industrial scale, that is, one installation is enough for 2-3 houses (if the productivity is 500 l / h). The only condition for complete disinfection is the absence of suspension. For its implementation, water intake occurs from the upper layers of the source (river or lake), and then the water is additionally filtered and settled in a special reservoir. After cleaning by cavitation, even household drains that have passed through a deep cleaning septic tank become drinking water.
The principle of operation of the cavitation unit is simple. Water passes through the filter, then the heat exchanger and enters the hydrodynamic system, where it is processed by cavitation. Then it returns to the heat exchanger for cooling, from it to the cooling condenser and reaches the final stage - additional filtration. You can use multiple filters with carbon or carbon-silver cartridges. With the help of cavitation, water purity indicators reach 100%, and electricity consumption is reduced by 40-50%.
This illustration confirms the perfect operation of the water disinfection unit. In one of the tanks there is dirty sewage water, in the other - already purified by the cavitation method
For the uninterrupted operation of the water disinfection plant, a voltage of 380 V, a power consumption of 7.5 kW, and a power supply frequency of 50 Hz are required.
Disposal of household waste
The issue of disposal is the most acute, since it is household waste that pollutes vast areas of land. Some materials decompose for decades, others emit substances hazardous to nature, as a result, the animal and plant world suffer, and with them the person himself. It turns out that in a private house it is possible to install equipment for the processing of both solid and liquid waste.
Biogas Plant Application
A biogas plant is needed to process solid waste and provide buildings with heat, gas and even electricity. Inside the plant there is a fermenter in which the garbage rots. The result of decay is biogas, consisting of carbon dioxide, methane and some other substances.
For storage, biogas is pumped into cylinders. The decomposition process is more efficient at a temperature of +35°C and stirring approximately 6 times a day. It is better if the raw materials do not contain substances that interfere with the development of bacteria. These include detergents, washing powder, soap, antibiotics. To increase productivity, warm water is added in small portions to solid waste.
Industrial biogas plants are successfully used on farms. The productivity of biogas production is so high that its quantity is enough to heat greenhouses located nearby farms, private houses
Septic tank for plums processing
Processing of liquid waste is carried out using septic tanks. This technology is already quite developed, and many domestic companies are engaged in the manufacture of complex equipment for the treatment of domestic wastewater. The most famous is the products under the names "", "", "", "".
Liquid drains from the house fall into a large tank, divided into several tanks. Suspension settles on the bottom, where it is exposed to anaerobic effects. The purified liquid is diverted to the filtration field, from there - for the needs of the personal plot. After the procedure, the water becomes purified by 97-98%.
Thus, using modern technologies in the device of water supply, heating and sewerage systems, it is possible to build an eco-house that is absolutely safe for the environment, nevertheless, quite comfortable and cozy.
How much does Ecohouse cost?
Build a house yourself or pay a lifetime mortgage? It's a matter of choice for each person. But, history already has not a single example when, practically for a few pennies, people managed to solve the housing problem. Moreover, building materials were taken right from under the feet and what came to hand. It is based on this principle eco-house.
Ecohouse is built from desire and fantasy
For example, the Englishman Michael Buck glazed the windows in his eco-house with glass from a broken and abandoned truck, and used boards from a leaky boat for the floor. The walls were built of clay and straw. There was enough clay in his garden, and he collected straw from a nearby field. He did everything in principle with his own hands, without the use of modern and expensive tools. The only time he ran out of nails and straw was that he spent $250 to buy them. Michael, by his act, wanted to show that it is possible to solve the problem of housing without any special material and time costs.
This whole experiment took 2 years, and it's better than being in mortgage debt all your life. There is no running water in his house, but there is a stream nearby. The house is heated with firewood, and clay walls retain heat for a long time.
Building an environmentally friendly house in Russia can fit into the amount of maternity capital, and nothing more. Ilgiz Murtazin, a resident of Bashkiria, was convinced of this by building a house of straw and clay with an area of 60 square meters in his village.
The fabulous house, like a hobbit, was even cheaper for a photographer from England, Simon Dale. He decided to build such an environmentally friendly house after the birth of his second child in his family.
During the construction of such houses, you can solve the most daring architectural fantasies using improvised building materials.
Watch video examples of houses built from what was. Your desire, the time spent and the applied physical strength - this is the price for the eco-house. How expensive it is, everyone decides for himself.
Ecology of consumption. Homestead: Ecohouse is not accidentally called a thermal fortress. It does not need a heating system or air conditioners, there are no drafts, no cold is felt, since the temperature difference between the room air and the internal surfaces of the enclosing structures is negligible.
It is no coincidence that Ecohouse is called a thermal fortress. It does not need a heating system or air conditioners, there are no drafts, no cold is felt, since the temperature difference between the room air and the internal surfaces of the enclosing structures is negligible.
An eco-house is an individual or block house with a plot of land, which is radically resource-saving and low-waste, healthy and well-maintained, non-aggressive in relation to the natural environment. This is achieved mainly by the use of autonomous or small collective engineering life support systems and rational building design of the house. What is important, he possesses these qualities not only as an individual, but also systemically - with all communal and production systems serving him. Eco-housing is the key to the future.
MAIN PRINCIPLES OF THE ECOHOUSE
Natural environment. The house is “correctly” inscribed in the surrounding landscape, that is, it takes into account natural phenomena (sunrise, sunset, etc.).
Energy efficiency. The use of energy-saving household appliances and engineering systems.
Minimum energy losses. The use of new building technologies, improved thermal insulation. Improvement of the ventilation system, which usually loses 1/3 of the heat.
Use of complex engineering systems with a single control system. The use of modern high-tech products, as well as products using natural elements - solar panels, heat pumps, etc.
Reduced level of safety impact of devices, engineering networks on the inhabitants of the house.
Application of a new heating concept, in which the thermoregulation system plays a leading role. Use of “free” heat sources (solar heat, heat from household appliances, etc.).
Ecological style of interior elements and household appliances. Possibility of further processing of materials.
SOLAR ARCHITECTURE
Passive solar technology is a long-established way of designing and building buildings that has been used by people for thousands of years to get the most out of solar radiation. The work of the solar collector is based on the greenhouse effect: the absorbed thermal radiation from the sun significantly exceeds the return thermal radiation of the collector.
There are two types of solar collectors - flat and vacuum.
In vacuum, the greenhouse effect is enhanced by the fact that the return thermal radiation of the collector cannot pass through the vacuum, just like in the vacuum flask of a household thermos. As a result, a vacuum collector, unlike a flat one, heats the coolant to a high temperature even in frost, which is a decisive factor in favor of its choice for our country. But in winter, with short daylight hours and cloudiness, the amount of heat generated by the solar collector is significantly reduced.
Ecohouse architecture
HEAT RETAINING WALLS
From the point of view of environmental friendliness for an eco-house, slabs made of stone wool can be considered the most attractive. They have the following benefits:
Non-toxic and non-carcinogenic, unlike, for example, material such as asbestos fiber;
Basalt fiber does not break, does not prick and does not crumble like fiberglass;
Non-hygroscopic (water absorption is not more than 1.5%) with good vapor permeability;
Over time, stone wool slabs do not shrink in volume, unlike glass wool or slag wool slabs;
The material is not affected by fungi and insects;
Non-combustible and heat-resistant - stone wool slabs can withstand temperatures up to 1000 °C.
The most important condition for maintaining the thermal contour of the building is the presence of supply and exhaust ventilation with a heat recuperator (heat exchanger).
How it works: cold outside air enters a counterflow heat exchanger, where it moves through pipes that are washed from the outside by warm air coming from the house in the opposite direction. As a result, at the exit from the heat exchanger, the outside air tends to acquire the temperature of the room, and the latter, on the contrary, tends to the outside temperature before leaving the heat exchanger. This solves the problem of sufficiently intensive air exchange in the house without heat loss.
In Russia, where the climate is more severe than, for example, in European countries, a ground heat exchanger should also be added to the main heat exchanger. Its expediency is proven by the fact that in some Western eco-houses the use of a ground heat exchanger made it possible to abandon the air conditioner. The soil temperature at a depth of 8 m is more constant and is about 8-12 °C. Therefore, it is necessary to deepen the heat exchanger exactly to this depth, so that the outdoor air, passing through the ground, tends to take the appropriate temperature regardless of the season. Either the July heat or the January frost can stand on the street, but fresh air will always enter the house, the temperature of which is optimal - about 17 ° C.
"RIGHT" WINDOWS
The coefficient of resistance to heat transfer of windows should be at least 1.5 ° C m2 / W - this is another necessary condition for the thermal tightness of an eco-house.
The requirements for windows are as follows:
The profile design must have low thermal conductivity and not have "cold bridges"; three-chamber or five-chamber profiles with a thickness of 62-130 mm are preferred;
Windows with a large glazing area should face south;
To reduce heat loss through windows in winter, it is better to close them at night with shutters, roller shutters or blackout curtains.
For an eco-house, wooden windows with double-glazed windows (three low-emission glasses, interglazing chambers filled with krypton) are best suited. The double-glazed window must have thermal insulation with a heat transfer resistance coefficient of 2 °C m2/W.
Warming of an eco-house
WARMING OF THE ECOHOUSE
All internal heated premises of an eco-house should be so thermally insulated from the external environment that the heat loss per year is less than the amount of heat that can be received from the sun per year and accumulated in the house.
ROOF
The roof, like the foundation, determines the longevity of the house. It protects the walls and foundation from precipitation, provides thermal protection of the interior. The roof can serve as a place for solar energy elements - solar collectors for heating air, water, solar panels for converting solar energy into electrical energy. A significant amount of water can be collected from the roof surface for irrigation and other technical needs.
Depending on the desire, you can use a combined roof (insulated roof, used for the attic floor) and cold, which is traditionally used in the construction of houses in Russia for an ordinary one-story and ordinary two-story house (straw, reed, semi-logs, boards).
FOUNDATIONS FOR ECOHOUSES
The foundation is the basis for the durability of an eco-house. The choice of foundation design and its deepening are determined depending on the type of soil, the weight of the house structure and the location of groundwater. The following types of foundations are traditionally used: columnar, strip, foundations from small blocks. The choice of foundation is best done based on local traditions.
To increase the durability of the foundation and protect it from groundwater, rain and melt water seeping from the surface of the earth, a drainage system is arranged around the foundation.
Insulated vestibule with an additional insulated sliding door
ENTRANCE TAMBOUR
In the vestibule, internal and external insulated doors should be installed. Tambour can be made heated and unheated. To increase thermal insulation, it is advisable to provide an additional sliding heat-efficient door.
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
For the construction of an eco-house, you can use all building materials not prohibited by sanitary and hygienic standards. It is necessary to withstand the final parameters of the house and its device, described above.
However, there are certain preferences for the materials that are recommended to be used in the construction of an eco-house, and how they are produced.
It is preferable to maximize the use of building materials from local raw materials mined at the site and the production of building materials on the same construction site. In order to achieve the required quality, and therefore the necessary parameters that make an ordinary house an eco-house, the materials are made on specially designed mini-equipment (high technologies in the production of building materials at minimal manufacturing costs). This mini-equipment can be used without major repairs for 10 construction seasons when stored under a canopy during the winter.
CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of the Ecohouse project and the subsequent large-scale use of the technologies embedded in it should solve the most pressing problems of our time: providing Russian residents with comfortable housing built and operated on the basis of resource- and energy-saving technologies using local materials, and greening the public utilities sector.
It is no coincidence that a house with the described properties is called a thermal fortress. In a mild climate, neither a heating system nor air conditioners are needed in it, there are no drafts, cold is not felt, since the temperature difference between the room air and the internal surfaces of the enclosing structures is negligibly small. The house is heated by the heat generated by household appliances, the bodies of the inhabitants - the owners and pets, as well as solar energy. Since there are no air-drying heaters in the building, the microclimate can be compared to the fertile summer weather somewhere in the resorts of mountainous Switzerland. This has a beneficial effect, for example, on those who suffer from allergies.
Many components of the passive house concept are quite feasible in Russia. Thus, in the reconstruction of the housing stock, technologies are already being successfully used to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. This is the insulation of facades using modern heat-insulating materials, the use of forced ventilation schemes and modern window systems. True, the practical implementation of energy-saving technologies at first is not cheap. However, as calculations show, high capital costs are quickly paid off due to low operating costs. That is, investing in energy-saving solutions can be considered a long-term and very reliable investment.
It is necessary to understand: the construction of a comfortable, healthy ecological house today is not at all a utopia, but a necessary reality. published
Consumption ecology. Homestead: Autonomous ecological housing, fully equipped with efficient supply systems, is able to “maintain” itself on its own. And without causing harm to the environment. Let's try to figure out whether it is possible to build an eco-house with your own hands exclusively from natural building materials - clay, sand, straw, wood.
Self-contained ecological housing, fully equipped with efficient supply systems, is able to "maintain" itself on its own. And without causing harm to the environment. Let's try to figure out whether it is possible to build an eco-house with your own hands exclusively from natural building materials - clay, sand, straw, wood.
Building an eco-house: dream or reality
Interest in the construction of eco-houses is growing every day - projects that previously seemed fantastic are being realized and show amazing results. Some of the principles of sustainable housing are familiar to anyone who has lived or vacationed in the countryside. To this day, outside the city, houses are being built from logs, timber, bricks - that is, natural materials that do not contain harmful artificial impurities.
Scheme of a residential two-story house using the “double beam” technology - walls, internal floors, ceilings are made of two layers of wood (profiled dry pine beam)
Advanced villagers and summer residents have long installed septic tanks and biological stations - compact modern waste processing systems. Household plums decompose naturally, then the solid sediment is used as a fertilizer, and the liquid is purified (up to 98%) and put into secondary use - for watering a garden or garden, maintaining the territory.
Scheme of a biological water treatment system with two chambers (aerobic and anaerobic exposure) and a filtration field. After purification, the liquid enters the soil
Of course, everything is different with the heating system: as before, the main source of heat is either an electric (gas, gasoline, coal) boiler, or a stove that is heated in the old fashioned way with wood. In environmentally friendly systems, the use of natural fuels (gas, coal, firewood, petroleum products) is excluded.
The following are recognized as the optimal sources of energy and heat:
- hydrodynamic heat generator with cavitator;
- solar powered system;
- wind home generators;
- biogas plants (for farms).
The functioning of energy supply, heating and waste processing systems are combined, and the result is a full-fledged autonomous maintenance of the house without any pollution of the atmosphere or soil.
An interesting design solution is the partial construction of a house “in the ground”. Part of the building is protected and insulated in a natural way, the only drawback is the mandatory artificial lighting of the underground part
The second stage is the definition of the nuances of building an eco-house. An important role is played by the thermal insulation of the house - the more efficiently the natural protection system is arranged, the less energy will be spent on heating. To increase the thermal insulation properties, several methods are used, for example:
- strengthening of thermal protection in areas with "cold bridges";
- arrangement of a multilayer wall structure (up to 4 layers with gaps filled with mineral insulation, waste from the cellulose or cotton industry);
- additional insulation of the foundation and basement.
An interesting architectural solution for the northern regions is the division of space into "winter" and "summer". As you know, our ancestors also had a winter hut (with a Russian stove) and an unheated summer hut.
A lot of energy is spent on keeping light bulbs working, so natural light should be maximized. To do this, one wall of the main room can be made of glass using triple glazing with wooden frames and shockproof glass.
Variant of the house with circular glazing. During daylight hours, almost all rooms of the building are lit naturally - through the glass walls erected around the perimeter
The tightness of the house will be the limit, so you should think about ventilation. The more useful qualities will be incorporated during construction, the less energy will be required to provide the residential area with heat, light, clean water.
The solar collector is mounted on the roof of a detached building specially built to accommodate a water heating system. Hot and cold water enters the house through an underground pipeline
It is irrational to install wind turbines in regions with forest plantations or other wind protection, however, on the coast of the seas, reservoirs, in the steppes and mountains, they justify the installation costs.
The work of a solar collector and a wind generator can be combined using a hybrid controller that distributes the received energy to consumption points or directs it to storage devices
Before erecting a country or village house from timber or logs, it is necessary to consider the arrangement of a heat-insulating layer.
Adobe houses can have different number of storeys, wall or roof configuration, size. Because of the clay plaster, it is sometimes difficult to guess that the main building material is "straw" brick
Pros and cons of straw blocks
The first thing worth noting is the availability of the main building material. It is obtained as a result of growing and processing crops (legumes, cereals, hemp, flax, etc.). Grains, inflorescences, seeds are further processed, and the stems with the remains of the leaves are dried and sent for livestock feed. Straw is also suitable for making decor in a rustic style.
Adobe bricks (adobe) are often prepared on their own: a mixture of clay, vegetable fibers, manure and lime is placed in molds resembling boxes without a bottom, rammed and allowed to dry for 7-10 days, turning in different directions
To store the material, it is necessary to build a large shed with a solid insulated roof, a dry microclimate and good natural ventilation. As a natural insulation, mats are also used, also made of straw (preferably rye, since mice do not like it).
Construction of the foundation and frame
While the material is “ripening”, you can prepare the foundation. It is equipped according to the usual scheme for a frame house. Masters recommend a lightweight belt option, because the bales are light in weight. For the foundation, a shallow pit is dug out, formwork is knocked out of the boards along the perimeter and poured with a thick mixture of clay and sand. By the way, straw is sometimes added to the base of the house.
Until the clay has seized, metal reinforcement is fixed in the corners and along the walls - for future strapping. Then, when the foundation gets stronger, a frame is assembled from wooden beams (15 cm x 15 cm). First of all, the corner posts are fixed, then the auxiliary supports for the walls. Horizontal elements are added to the vertical elements - boards or bars of a smaller section.
If a basement floor is planned, it is necessary to deepen the foundation at least 45 cm, and during construction, waterproof the basement
Straw block tying
Blocks are stacked alternately, in rows, according to the principle of brickwork. The seams between the rows are caulked. Each block is fixed with a metal bar and strapping. After the entire frame is filled, shingles are made diagonally with thin boards to give the walls more stability. The roof is installed at the very end, according to the usual technology.
Before using straw bales, check its quality again: good material has a pleasant golden color and the smell of dried grass, dry to the touch
The resulting seams and gaps are sealed with adobe mixture. If protection against rodents is necessary, the walls around the entire perimeter are covered with a metal mesh with a small cell. Sometimes a second layer of thinner straw mats is laid out for insulation. The outer part of the thatched hut is plastered with a lime mixture (2.5-3 cm thick) and decorated with white or colored paint. Ultramarine, umber, violet cobalt, red iron oxide and chromium oxide are used as color schemes.
The last stage is the interior decoration, at the same time with which the building and the area adjacent to it are equipped with life support systems.
The technology of building a building from firewood and clay
Firewood, which is perceived by everyone as a traditional but fading type of fuel, can be used in another way - as a material for building walls. For the technology of erecting buildings from logs in Russia, they came up with an interesting name - "clay", and in America, where this construction method is also known, it is called Cordwood. If a firewood house is equipped with a smart energy saving system, then it can be safely classified as environmentally friendly, non-polluting.
Collective erection of a round building using the “clay chock” technology: each layer of firewood is leveled, the chocks protrude slightly from the clay mortar
Plaster, also made from natural ingredients, is used as the finishing layer. To soften the structure of the finishing solution, manure is added to the clay - a natural antiseptic.
Clay mortar sets for at least one and a half months - throughout the entire period, the walls must be kept dry. To do this, a large canopy is erected over the building body. Drying, the clay will crack, so it is necessary to cover the cracks regularly and monitor the integrity of the structure.
Recommendations for beginner builders
If you decide to get a house from chocks, about a year before the start of construction, start preparing the wood. It must be dried for at least 10 months so that the structure does not deform further. For a small country house with an area of 40 m², about 30 m³ of wood will be required. It is better to take not round chocks, which during the masonry process can crack along the fibers, but chopped firewood, freed from the bark. The length of the blanks is 50-60 cm.
The same length of logs is easy to achieve using a bench machine, but some easily cope with the task by placing logs on ordinary goats. On the one hand, they make an emphasis, on the other, at a certain distance, a mark is made on it and a cut is made.
The order of building a house:
- strip foundation device;
- frame assembly (with a circular laying principle, it is not needed);
- phased laying of "woodpile" with openings for windows and doors;
- pause for clay maturation (at least 2 months);
- roof construction;
- plastering and interior decoration.
When building walls, you can use traditional technologies. For example, a beam is used for corner strapping. In order for the firewood to lay flat, a large shield is placed vertically on one side - it plays the role of a limiter. To increase the stability of the structure horizontally after every 4 rows, it is recommended to lay barbed wire.
Video on the construction of ecological houses
Thematic videos will help you understand the nuances of building eco-houses.
Video review of green houses:
A film about the construction of an adobe house in a northern ecovillage:
Do-it-yourself clay pot technology
As you can see, building a house using one of the well-known eco-technologies on your own is quite realistic. You can start not with a residential building, but with a small utility room, summer kitchen or country decor. Try to apply the principles of an energy-efficient home - it will be a small step into the future and a wonderful personal experience. published