Feat of Clay

Feat of clay
Moves to develop UK production of unfired clay bricks are driven

by the growing demand for sustainable construction materials to
displace conventional products. Tom Morton, Principal Architect
at Arc, Fife, UK, examines the key factors in achieving a scale of
use that would yield significant benefits, such as standardisation
and low cost.
he main advantages of using unfired clay as
T
Although clay manufacture uses a finite
a binder in building materials instead of resource, the environmental impact can be
cement, gypsum or fired clay are a healthy benign, with low value agricultural land being
indoor environment and low environmental transformed into biodiverse wetland habitats.
impact over the whole life cycle of the material. Sources of clay are shallower and less remotely
These attributes have been well established over located than sources of gypsum and cement or
the last fifteen years in Germany, where a small lime.
specialist construction sector has experienced Unfired clay materials also have relatively low
sustained growth through the development of embodied energy and carbon. The brickwork in
national standards in using unfired clay and the the test house had embodied energy of 146
use of sophisticated products in prestige projects. kwh/tonne and embodied carbon of 44.6
But application in the UK has been hampered kgCO2/tonne. This is about 14% of comparable
by the lack of guidance and standardisation in fired brickwork and 24% compared to light-
available materials and the expense of importing weight blockwork. While the bricks were
modern products from Germany. The develop- removed from production before kiln firing,
ment of best practice guidance and low cost they still required two days of artificial air
materials manufacturing in the UK would remove drying. The estimated saving in this building is
Top: making the unfired significant barriers. Attention now focuses on 24.9MWh and 7036kg of CO2 over common
bricks. Bottom: building ways to realise this shift in attitude. bricks, and 14.5MWh and 4104kg CO2 over light-
with unfird bricks In order to assess the potential of unfired weight concrete blocks.
All images ©Arc clay bricks in the UK, a test house was built and
monitored in a research project funded by the Healthy living
DTI Partners In Innovation programme. This two- An ability to regulate moisture is another key
year project reveals the technical advantages of quality of unfired clay materials. Their hygro-
using unfired clay materials and highlights scopic scope to absorb and desorb atmospheric
practical implications of their use. moisture allowed the 15mm clay plaster surface
in the house to strongly regulate short-term
Low impact manufacturing peaks. In the bathroom, the clay plaster had
Unfired clays are natural materials with varying such a strong ability to absorb peaks of air
properties, commonly combined with fine moisture after showers that it cleared the air
aggregates and fibres to make a range of without surface condensation. The effect of the
products such as bricks, blocks, boards, mortars extractor fan was of no statistical significance.
and plasters. Clay materials produce very little The brick core had a longer term moderating
waste, as there is no fundamental chemical effect, peaking at two hours after exposure to
change or ceramicisation involved in their moisture, but continuing for over 24 hours.
manufacture and use. The materials are easily The ability of a building’s fabric to passively
recycled or cleanly disposed of. avoid conditions where condensation will occur
2 Materials World January 2006

improves its long-term durability and avoids the Occupants of earth buildings often report Top: The finished house.
need for vapour control membranes, which are better perceived thermal performance than is Bottom left: clay paster
prone to defects from poor workmanship. predicted by steady state U-value calculations, texture. Bottom right:
However, the main advantages in moisture which can prove inaccurate predictors of real window curve
terms are to human health through the regula- building performance for a number of reasons.
tion of internal air relative humidity (RH). Whatever the explanation, the walls of the
The UK has some of the highest rates of building performed significantly better than was
asthma in the world and allergens from house indicated by the design calculations and
dust mites are known to cause asthmatic exceeded the requirements of the contempo-
sensitisation and trigger symptoms. Recent rary building regulations.
research recommends maintaining internal RH
below 60% to ensure that the dust mites critical Down to earth
equilibrium humidity will not be reached. The future for earth construction in the UK
Designing dwellings with a high level of remains uncertain. Unfired clay's fundamental
insulated thermal mass can help to achieve this. properties as a flexible, healthy, low-energy
Allergy to mould spores is a major health risk binder give it great potential in an evolving sus-
associated with fungi in buildings, and the tainable construction industry. Earth masonry
inhalation of mould spores can also cause toxic construction is simple and cheap, and could
reactions and cancer. Relative humidity levels help establish a basic mass-market for earth
below 70% are thought to avoid mould growth. materials in the mainstream sector, fostering
Avoidance of high RH levels can also reduce the more exciting research and development into
viability of bacterial disease transmission. prefabricated composite materials and spray
Although low relative humidity can cause applications.
respiratory disease through the drying of the But the commercial reality is that while
throat, the risk is considered less than that some major brick producers are developing
presented by dust mites and mould at high unfired products, the kind of investment that
humidity levels. is needed for a progressive leap is still some
When monitoring the test house, the target of way off.
regulating levels to between 40% and 60% was
generally met. While there were short-term 90 Air relative humidity was
values outside this range, these were attributa- regulated to the target
80
ble to periods of very high ventilation or the use range of 40-60% by using
Humidity (%)
of showers. While external air relative humidity 70 unfired clay materials for
fluctuated considerably, between 24.9% and 60
building
96.1%, the mean external value was around 65%,
50
while the mean internal value was around 45%
(see graph above). 40
Nov 03 Nov 04
Comfort levels Time
Used on the inside of a layered construction, the Further information

Living room Bedroom 1
unfired clay bricks made a significant contribu- Arc Architects led this
Ext air Bathroom
tion to thermal comfort, with warm surfaces and research in association
Bedroom 2
thermal mass that moderated atmospheric with Dundee University,
temperature swings for up to a week. Effective UK, and Robert Gordon
U-value (the rate of heat loss) of the walls was Thermal U-value University, UK. Tom
32% better than the design calculation, though resistivity R (W/m2/K) Morton is the Principal
the reason for this was unclear. The improve- (mK/W) Architect at Arc, e-mail:
ment may relate to optimisation of the density Regulation wall value 3.33 0.3 tom@arc-architects.co.uk.
of the cellulose insulation or a better than Wall design value 6.33 0.157 Website: www.arc-
predicted performance by the earth brick and Recorded wall performance 9.34 0.107 architects.co.uk/archive.
plaster related to air in the earth pore structure.
Materials World January 2006 3

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Feat of clay

Moves to develop UK production of unfired clay bricks are driven

he main advantages of using unfired clay as

2 Materials World January 2006

Comfort levels Time

Used on the inside of a layered construction, the Further information

plaster related to air in the earth pore structure.

Materials World January 2006 3

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