Advantages of using raw materials in structural solutions

Abstract

The Portuguese housing building industry has been mainly focused on the reinforced concrete and clay brick masonries. Recently, this industry also includes steel and timber structures. However, the hearth related building techniques still remains punctual in this field and only applied by specific contractors which have a particular interest on these ecological techniques. However, this sector has been having a gradual increasing interest on the environment and the sustainability issues. This is the context of the present research work in which a sustainable structure of a typical Portuguese house using natural materials is proposed and analyzed (adobe block masonries and timber floors). Meanwhile, this research work also includes a detailed discretion of the main aspects related to the design of the described sustainable solution and taking into account that this type of solution still remains uncommon in the Portuguese context.