Along with the aforementioned research of the microclimate and FORMES technology, a scientific work entitled “Ecological and health benefits resulting from the use of technology of constructing walls from constructional clay” was also commissioned to the Civil Engineering Department of the Cracow University of Technology.
Selected fragments of the work are presented below:
” In 1987, the World Health Organisation set forth a list of symptoms and illnesses connected to living in a “sick building”. They are, for example, allergy disorders (asthma, sensory irritation of the eyes nose and throat, and chronic bronchitis), neurotic illnesses (migraines, irritation, problems with concentration), Legionnaire’s disease, (bacteria legionella), humidifier fever, multiple chemical sensitivity and also cancer. Illnesses which arise as a result of the long-term influence of factors harmful to health that occur in the environment, are called diseases of modern civilization or an environmental illness. The former are the cause of 80% of deaths (GUS 2004)”.
“The influence of biological factors on the quality of air inside a residential area.
Biological factors influencing the pollution of air are most often contamination caused by fungus, mold and microorganisms which grow on the culture medium of building materials. Almost 30% of health problems related to air quality are caused by fungus and mold. They are mycosis (skin and organ) as well as allergies (lacrimation, catarrh and asthma) and mikotoksykoza (afflictions caused by the products of the metabolism of fungi mycotoxin). They have a wide range of activity: carcinogenic, immunotoxity, neurotoxity, mutagenic and teratogenic.”
Breathing structural walls from rammed clay are an unusually sensitive, natural regulator of humidity which allow the free movement of air and condensation while keeping the optimal level of relative humidity for people at 50-60%
Clay possesses strong preserving and antiseptic properties which do not allow biological threats to come into being. This material is also characterized by high durability.
The possibility of the wide substitution of conventional wall materials by the unique, natural material of clay which has not been fired, architectural solutions aimed at green energy, taking into consideration the needs of the human organism in the biological sphere at the design and construction stage offer a real basis for gaining optimal microclimate conditions.
The optimal microclimate conditions naturally obtained in the interiors of residential buildings by the specific physical and chemical properties of clay, have a decisive effect on a person’s health.
The specific physical and chemical properties of clay used in the construction of structural walls in the technology of rammed clay are primarily its large accumulation of heat properties, the ability to self-regulate the relative humidity inside the room, the freely breathing walls and chemically unpolluted material – i.e. 4 basic factors affecting the optimal microcliamte.
The high conduction and capacity of heat of large walls, for example from rammed clay, allow for the optimisation of the process of gaining heat from solar power, which reduces energy use in the heating season by 2-15%, and in the summer period, by absorbing heat, the walls decrease the temperature of the interior in a natural manner. The heat stability of the large building elements independently evens out the daily fluctuations in temperature,
