In ancient times, people used mud to make houses, and it worked pretty well. Now that humans are more modernized, we use concrete and other materials that aren’t eco-friendly. With climate change rising and the impacts becoming more visible, scientists are wondering: should we live in mud houses instead?
According to Vice, houses produce 40% of all carbon emissions. Mud houses, however, are much more eco-friendly as they are made of natural resources and are completely recyclable. We have seen this working in cities like Sana’a which are completely made of mud, but the citizens are happy. In fact, in Mali, there is a city where the whole community gathers at a mosque every year to repair it with mud.
Not only are mud houses more eco-friendly, they are also cheaper than typical houses because mud houses don’t need an AC system. Mud houses are “breathable.”
According to Dragana Kojicic, an architect in raw-earth construction, “The earth has the ability to absorb excess moisture from the air, and to release it, if necessary, which is why we say that these houses ‘breathe’.” This way, the mud houses adjust to the temperature, so when you live inside one of these houses, they are always the right temperature.
While these mud houses might seem like they would collapse when exposed to lots of water, they are actually sturdy. The house can hold against earthquakes and wind “because of the ability of its structure to distribute the load that it faces on its surface, unlike concrete or cement.” says Damluji, co-founder of the Daw’an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation in Yemen. This holds true for floods as well.
When analyzing mud houses, they are, in many ways, better than the houses we live in now. This is in part to mud’s eco-friendliness, cost, and stability. At the rate of climate change, all humans might have to switch to mud buildings so that earth can survive.
According to Vice, houses produce 40% of all carbon emissions. Mud houses, however, are much more eco-friendly as they are made of natural resources and are completely recyclable. We have seen this working in cities like Sana’a which are completely made of mud, but the citizens are happy. In fact, in Mali, there is a city where the whole community gathers at a mosque every year to repair it with mud.
Not only are mud houses more eco-friendly, they are also cheaper than typical houses because mud houses don’t need an AC system. Mud houses are “breathable.”
According to Dragana Kojicic, an architect in raw-earth construction, “The earth has the ability to absorb excess moisture from the air, and to release it, if necessary, which is why we say that these houses ‘breathe’.” This way, the mud houses adjust to the temperature, so when you live inside one of these houses, they are always the right temperature.
While these mud houses might seem like they would collapse when exposed to lots of water, they are actually sturdy. The house can hold against earthquakes and wind “because of the ability of its structure to distribute the load that it faces on its surface, unlike concrete or cement.” says Damluji, co-founder of the Daw’an Mud Brick Architecture Foundation in Yemen. This holds true for floods as well.
When analyzing mud houses, they are, in many ways, better than the houses we live in now. This is in part to mud’s eco-friendliness, cost, and stability. At the rate of climate change, all humans might have to switch to mud buildings so that earth can survive.
