Earthen Construction
Earthen construction encompasses a family of high-mass, concrete-like wall systems, including adobe, cob, rammed earth, compressed earth block (CEB), earthbag, superadobe, and more. Some of these construction methods date back to the earliest human civilizations, and in recent years, there has been a resurgence in both practice and building science research, including advancements in 3D printing.
As high-mass materials, earthen systems require careful detailing in high seismic zones. VSE has worked with earthen construction across all seismic regions of the United States, pioneering permitted work, research, literature, and code development in nearly every structural category, and continues pushing that work forward today.