Building with Earth: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture

Openings for doors and windows

Wall apertures will destabilise a wall system.
During earthquakes, diagonal cracks often
occur, starting at the window edges (15.20).
In order to achieve a good bond, lintels
must penetrate at least 40 cm into the wall
(15. 21). In this case, however, the area
above the lintel may be weak and may
come off during an earthquake, so the best
solution is to use the lintel as a ring beam
on which the roof structure rests. It is also
recommended that the section below the
window be built as a light, flexible structure,
for instance from wooden panels or wattle
and daub. The following rules have to be
taken into account (15.23and 15.24).

a) The width of a window should not be

more than 1.2 m and not more than^1 / 3 of

the length of the wall.

b) The length of walls between openings

must be at least^1 / 3 of their height and not

less than 1 m.

c) Doors must open outward. Opposite the

entrance door should be a large window or

another door, which acts emergency exit

(15.24).

140 Earthquake-resistant building

15. 21

15.22

15.20

dangerous acceptable

better

best

15.20Typical failures

caused by seismic move-

ments (Tolles et al., 2000)

15. 21Types of lintels

15.22Stabilised open-

ings

15.23Recommendable

dimensions of openings

15.24Recommendable

positions of openings

15.25 to 15.26Earth-

quake-resistant low-cost

housing prototype with

bamboo-reinforced

rammed earth walls,

Guatemala 1978