[Greenbuilding] suggestions for outdoor wall?

[Corwyn]

> Any suggestions for other materials or other ways to accomplish that
> goal which might be more environmentally friendly? We are currently
> investigating rammed earth (per MIT's rammed earth N51; see
> http://www.mit.edu/~jdahmen/rammed/ if you are interested), but didn't
> want to overlook other options.

Don,

Joe Dahmen is my cousin (sort of) and we have talked extensively about 
his wall.  Some things to note:

1. It wasn't cheap,  even with graduate student labor.  I recall the 
number was around $45,000.

2.  It is massive, And would do a much better job IMHO of stopping a 
speeding car, than almost anything else you can mention.

3. It is capped with a steel top to keep the rain off.

4. There is quite a bit of cement in the foundation, which Joe is 
looking for a way of doing without.

5. It is an experiment, although he is confident that it will last, one 
of the reason for making it was to test in field conditions.

6. It required a LOT of materials, having such thing close by will 
drastically affect your outlook.

7.  I think it looks nice for what it is, but it is a monolithic wall, 
appropriate for cityscapes only, I suspect.

Thank You Kindly,

Corwyn

-- 
Corwyn
Kermit didn't know the half of it...
http://www.greenfret.com/
corwyn at greenfret.com