“Better” anti-seismic rammed-earth buildings for rural areas of southwest China

Ph.D.Rural construction is an important issue in the contemporary development of China. With the commencement of new countryside construction, an increasing number of buildings are being built against traditional culture and the local environment. Significant challenges exist in implementing permanent housing reconstruction programmes after earthquakes because of the lack of systematic guidelines and inefficiency, particularly in rural areas of Southwest China where rammed-earth buildings are widely distributed. This study identifies the characteristic issues of rammed-earth building construction in this area from the technical, safety, economic and thermal performance aspects and summarises a series of strategies that consider the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. This study verifies the systematic strategies by building prototype projects in Southwest China.With the help of the One University One Village (1U1V), the research team has built several prototype projects in Southwest China. As the project officer and on-site architect of the team, I participate in the design, coordination and construction of these prototype projects. I was mainly responsible for refining design, procuring material, organising the construction, controlling construction progress and supervising construction quality. After the construction, I also collected the temperature data and conducted the Post Occupancy Evaluation. Analysis and evaluation using rural assessment systems indicate that building strategies can be made suitable for rural areas in Southwest China. Lastly, a framework for an anti-seismic rammed-earth building construction system for rural areas in Southwest China is established in accordance with relevant theory and practice. The strategies are implemented as follows.1) For the technical aspect, anti-seismic performance and an environment-friendly characteristic are important for the reconstruction of rural areas of Southwest China. Laboratory experiments and measurements should be conducted to improve them. Modern rammed-earth machines can be used to improve construction efficiency. The use of a ‘high science’ method to solve this problem and ‘low technology’ to educate villagers is a good strategy for rural areas. Through the comparison between modern and traditional rammed-earth buildings in prototype projects and the shaking table test video, villagers can actually experience the good performance of modern anti-seismic rammed-earth buildings on site.2) For the environmental aspect, the embodied energy of local materials should be calculated to analyse their impact on the environment. Thermal performance is improved via computer simulation and measurement. Poverty and bad transportation systems are major problems that raise the price of construction materials. For rural areas of Southwest China, local materials should be used in rammed-earth buildings.3) For the social aspect, a framework must be established for an anti-seismic rammed-earth building construction system for rural areas of Southwest China in accordance with relevant theory and practice. The framework we established will teach villagers to build rammed-earth buildings step by step. We will also help the government formulate local codes for rammedearth buildings. Promoting the development of rammed-earth buildings in Southwest China is a good beginning.4) The systematic strategies are verified via building prototype projects in Southwest China. These strategies can be made suitable for rural areas of Southwest China through analysis and evaluation using rural assessment systems.The framework can serve as a reference for government policy formulation in rural areas and help in our collaboration with local governments to establish rammed-earth building codes. This study can also help rural areas in other countries with similar economic and climate conditions through the promotion of building strategies.農村建設是當代中國發展的重要問題。隨著新農村建設的開展，越來越多的建築物不再遵循傳統文化和當地環境。由於缺乏系統的指導方針和行之有效的策略，在地震後實施的永久性住房災後重建計劃存在著重大挑戰，這種情況在中國西南的農村地區尤其嚴峻。而中國的西南農村地區又是夯土建築分佈廣泛的地區。本研究將從技術、安全、經濟和熱工性能等層面來分析該地區夯土建築的特徵問題，並通過可持續發展的三個要素——社會、經濟、環境總結出一套行之有效的策略。同時本研究將通過在中國西南地區建立示範項目來驗證和提升該系統化策略。在一專一村團隊的幫助下，研究團隊在中國西南農村地區建設了多個示範項目。本人作為一專一村團隊的項目專員和駐場建築師，全程參與了示範項目的設計、組織協調和施工過程。施工完成後我還持續收集示範項目的溫度等數據進行使用後評價研究。通過農村地區評估系統的分析和評估，可以使該策略更適合中國西南農村地區的發展。最後，根據相關理論研究和實踐，建立西南農村地區抗震夯土建築體系框架。適合中國西南農村地區發展的策略將實施如下：1). 對於技術層面，抗震性能和環境友好性對於西南農村地區的重建項目非常重要。我們應該從實驗室實驗和測量著手來進行改進提升。現代化的夯土工具的使用極大地提升了施工效率。我們用“高科學”的方法來解決這個問題，並用“低技術”的方式讓村民進行學習是很好的策略。通過將示範工程中的現代夯土建築和傳統夯土建築進行比較，並展示振動台試驗視頻的結果，村民們可以在現場真正感受到現代抗震夯土建築的良好性能。2). 對於環境方面，我們應計算本地材料的隱含能源從而來分析對環境的影響。通過計算機模擬和現場測量可以提升建築的熱工性能。貧困和交通條件差是導致建築材料價格上漲的重大問題。因此對於中國西南農村地區，夯土建築中應當盡量使用當地材料。3). 對於社會層面，通過相關理論和實踐的研究與整理，建立中國西南農村地區抗震夯土建築體系的框架。我們不但會教村民逐步建造他們的夯土建築，還將幫助當地政府制定抗震夯土建築規範。這是促進中國西南農村地區夯土建築發展的良好開端。4). 通過在中國西南農村地區建設示範項目來驗證系統策略。通過農村評估系統的分析和改進，可以使改策略更適合中國西南農村地區的發展。該框架可以作為農村地區政府政策制定的參考，這也對我們將來與地方政府合作制定地區性夯土建築規範有很大的幫助。通過對這些策略的宣傳推廣，本研究還可以幫助具有相似經濟和氣候條件的其他國家的農村地區來建造抗震夯土建築。Chi, Xinan."October 2019."Thesis Ph.D. Chinese University of Hong Kong 2020.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-138).Abstracts also in Chinese.Title from PDF title page (viewed on 20 May, 2021)