[Greenbuilding] suggestions for outdoor wall?

[Jefro]

I'm pretty sure Don is talking about a wall with very minimal Portland, 
as the web site describes in detail.  The only concrete used in the MIT 
wall is the pier-and-beam foundation. 

I don't think the living wall approach would work for their case, as 
they need it now and they also need it to protect kids from cars.

It seems like a very interesting (albeit labor-intensive) method, and 
considering the labor and time involved I'm not convinced it would be 
any "greener" in the long run than a plain ole concrete block wall.  
Unless there is a LOT of volunteer labor, rammed earth would certainly 
be more expensive, which is the wrong kind of green.  Have you 
considered a recycled concrete form product like Rastra?


Robert W. Tom wrote:
> On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:43:55 -0400, Don Jennings  
> <djennings3 at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>   
>> A local non-profit charter school in my area is planning to enclose a
>> grassy area as a place for kids to play.
>>     
>
>   
>> Any suggestions for other materials or other ways to accomplish that
>> goal which might be more environmentally friendly? We are currently
>> investigating rammed earth
>>     
>
> IMO, rammed earth wouldn't be any more environmentally-friendly than  
> concrete block or brick if Portland cement binder is used.
>
> The small particle size of the aggregate that must be coated by the binder  
> and the larger volume in the wall would likely end up requiring that  
> *more* high embodied-energy Portland cement be used than for a concrete  
> block wall.
>
> Not only that, the rammed earth wall would not make recovery and reuse of  
> the Portland cement possible at the end of the wall's useful life whereas  
> the concrete block could be easily deconstructed and the materials re-used  
> elsewhere any number of times so arguably, in this app, concrete block  
> would be more environmentally-friendly than a RE wall.
>
> But that being said, why a wall at all ? Why not a living wall in the form  
> or shrubbery (no, not George Bush offspring) or trees ... or better yet,  
> espaliered fruit trees that will provide food for the little jam faces to  
> steal and munch on ?  (With high -voltage electric cattle fence embedded  
> to keep the little critters corralled if necessary until the greenery  
> takes hold. Solar powered of course. Yeah, yeah. Just kidding about the  
> electric fence of course. (Low-voltage would suffice.[insert EVIL WINKING  
> SMILEY]
>
>
> ===* ===
> Rob Tom
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
> <archilogic at chaffyahoo dot ca>
> winnow the chaff from my edress in your reply
>
>
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