​A Quick Explanation of Rammed Earth

Rammed earth has a long and well deserved place in the building history of the world.  It can be traced back as a technique to the building of parts of the Great Wall of China and most likely even farther than that.
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How does it work?
Rammed earth like the name implies is soil that is placed in a form and rammed by either hands or machines until it becomes a form a sedimentary rock.  A specific soil mixture is called for like the other forms of earthen construction. There is leeway in the exact composition of the soils but it is critical to get it between those percentages.     

• Sand and Gravel Content 45 to 80% by mass 
  
• Silt Content 10 to 30% by mass 
  
• Clay Content 5 to 20% by mass
  

Depending on who you ask there is a fairly good chance that the soils at your site will fall within those parameters but it will be necessary to have it tested so it meet your requirements.  While traditional rammed earth was made with only dirt today standard will also typically require some cement as part of the mixture.

Is it green?
Assuming you can get all the soil from the site and you use minimal cement and other trucked in materials then rammed earth can be very green building material.  Also assuming good foundations, roofs and other maintenance these can be very long lasting when compared to most modern structions. These also can rank very high on the energy efficiency as well when combined with modern insulation and HVAC systems.  Overall when done right rammed earth is far superior to many modern building techniques.  

Sources:

file:///C:/Users/maral/Downloads/Gramlich_oregon_0171N_10567.pdf

http://home.howstuffworks.com/rammed-earth-home.htm

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