<DÝCHÁ VÁŠ DŮM?> <Is your house breathing?>

If we look at our house as a spatial projection of ourselves, as a possibility to materialize our wishes and ideas, we come to the conclusion that the house and its inhabitants represent a whole with lawful internal relationships and connections. We create and animate it simply by thinking about it, considering our needs, imagining possible options, which we then consult with the architect when preparing the project. This seemingly trivial stage decisively influences the quality of the project and the subsequent smooth course of realization, as well as the inherent value of the resulting building. It determines whether the completed house is truly the "our" dream house, with which we are in symbiosis, that meets our needs and where we feel good. It would be desirable to approach this stage of birth with a certain humility, as not everyone can afford to live according to their ideas.

The House as a Living Organism

Integration into the landscape, the living environment, orientation to the cardinal directions, and the form of dwelling are underestimated criteria, pushed into the background by so-called practical reasons, such as the accessibility of civilization's benefits, infrastructure, transport, and cultural activities. Finding a suitable place for construction, merging with the surrounding landscape and people should be considered much more than is customary today. Similarly, the shape and unique architectural solution of the house should resonate with the ideas and character of its inhabitants. For the design of interiors, reflecting the feelings and wishes of the owners, rather than mimicking photos from magazines, would be beneficial, while also engaging their creative potential. After all, we create an environment that shapes us in return. Our satisfaction and harmonious living are a prerequisite for healthy relationships in the family, with roommates, and neighbors. In this lies the great responsibility of each individual. After all, each of us fills the shared spaces with our being, and thus the entire house. We perceive our dwelling as a refuge, a background, safety, intimacy.
A properly designed layout and the adequacy of the house's size to our real needs significantly influence the overall demands of the construction. Will we truly use all the proposed rooms? Do we need two garages? Will our children be willing to live with us in ten years? These circumstances need to be considered. A mortgage, which in many cases allows for this excess, binds and restricts the builder for decades. It is too high a price for something we do not need. The house has always been a natural refuge for humans, built efficiently and maximally purposefully. Today, it is rather a "luxury" with all the negative implications of the word.
When designing the structural solution of the house, not only today's construction standards should be respected, but with a view to the future, we should strive to approach low-energy or passive standards. Sandwich solutions for exterior shells with appropriate insulation composition, load-bearing elements, and accumulation walls should be a matter of course for both designers and builders. Developments in the market with rising energy prices and strategic raw materials should serve as clear signals for us. It is surprising that today houses are still built on such a scale, which are already, as new buildings, fundamentally outdated. Compositions and materials that do not meet new trends in construction are used, and which other EU countries are already moving away from. What a builder saves his whole life will be worthless in a few years, and will not even hold part of the initial investment value. Architects and designers should convince investors that the right solutions for structures and insulation, heating methods, and the choice of building materials are crucial for the quality of living and the resulting value of the building.
Technologies in construction, especially in the area of heating, ventilation, and recuperation, can be likened to instruments keeping a sick person alive. When we disconnect the devices - the house does not function; it is dead. A healthy house is designed to be as independent of technologies as possible, prioritizing simple solutions, respecting physical and other natural laws, and utilizing them to its advantage. Instead of heat pumps and recuperative units costing hundreds of thousands of crowns, we can better insulate and use simpler systems that may not be as effective but function naturally. A healthy house does not need to be connected to artificial devices.
In our climatic conditions, we spend up to 90% of our time indoors, and the quality of the environment here directly impacts our lives. In the field of residential construction and residential houses, there are few constructions in which natural building materials could not be fully applied. The gradual depletion of non-renewable resources and the dependence of synthetic building material production on them forces us to consider building materials in a completely new way. Why produce and build with materials that contain so much energy when it's not necessary? Almost everything we need can be obtained in a more natural way from renewable sources. Let's give our house what we give ourselves. Just as we dress in fabrics that are pleasant to us, we will feel good in a house made of natural materials. Their surfaces age well and, with proper maintenance, provide us with an aesthetically valuable environment for a long time. Nature is a natural and healthy environment for us, which we can transport into our own dwellings with its materials. We can trust natural materials; they are time-tested, something that cannot be said about synthetic materials.
If we continue this analogy of the birth, realization, and use of the house as a living organism, we also arrive at its aging and eventual demise. The building elements of a natural house can be easily reused (recycled), or the house naturally disintegrates without the need for enormous disposal costs and returns to the earth. It thus frees up space for the growth of other forms of habitation and merges with nature.

Properties and Applications of Clay and Other Natural Materials in Constructions

Clay materials used in interiors excellently regulate air humidity. They have a high absorption capacity and, with a suitably designed amount of clay structures, maintain the air's relative humidity in the 40-50% range. Clay surfaces can bind possible pollutants and odors.
Negative ions are released from clay, which positively influence the internal environment of the house. Its high anti-allergic potential and ability to prevent the formation of mold spores are also noteworthy. Excellent accumulation properties are related to the higher surface temperature of clay walls and plasters, contributing to thermal comfort in interior spaces of houses.
In processing and applying clay materials, we can endlessly exercise our creativity, and our contact with them feels like a pleasant experience, beneficial dermatologically.


Possibilities for the use of natural materials:

• foundations - stone, activated clay materials, wooden piles, wooden framework
• load-bearing structures - clay materials (clay bricks, rammed earth, cob walls, activated clay materials), stone, wood
• non-load-bearing structures - clay materials, stone, wood, pressed straw, hemp, flax, reed boards and panels
• lintels - wood, clay and stone arch
• filling material - clay materials (joints, interlayers of ceilings, fillings for half-timbering), wood fiber, hemp, flax, cotton, expanded clay, perlite
• floors - clay materials (slurries, tiles), wood, stone, cork, marmoleum
• waterproofing - clay materials (bentonite), foam glass, natural latex, natural asphalt
• thermal insulation - wood fiber, reed, cork, hemp, flax, sheep wool, cotton, expanded clay, perlite, foam glass
• reinforcements - jute, reed, wood, hemp
• heating systems - clay materials (bricks, renders, mortars), stone, wicker
• cladding, ceilings - wood-clay, flax, hemp boards, wood, reed
• surface treatments - clay materials (rough, fine plasters, clay coatings), Moroccan stucco, stone, reed, paper
• roofing - stone, wood, reed, straw
• ceilings - wood, stone, clay materials (brick vaults)
• rafters - wood
• separating, vapor-proof, and vapor-retarding systems - clay materials (plasters, clay coatings), paperboard, impregnated and waxed paper
• coatings - waxes, oils, casein paints, natural pigments, resins, and natural latex

The list of building materials mentioned above could be supplemented with further alternatives, but our intention is to inform about the possibilities that are already available on our market today. Additionally, considering the use of local raw materials, the amount of embedded energy and transportation distances. Hliněný dům s.r.o. is dedicated to the development, production, and sale of natural materials, design and consulting activities in the field of buildings made from these materials, and the realization of constructions considering healthy and harmonious living. We have developed a basic range of clay products according to our own recipes and from local raw materials. We manufacture and supply unburnt bricks and dry mortar mixes for masonry and plasters, which are already being successfully applied in new buildings and used in the renovation of monuments. After a series of tests of individual clay products and load-bearing walls from unburnt bricks, the certification process of these materials is currently underway. The determined parameters will enable designers to effectively design clay structures into buildings, including load-bearing walls. Our other priorities in the use of natural materials are hemp as thermal insulation and reed as a carrier for plasters, insulation, and roofing. In this area, cooperation with experts from VUT Brno, the Association of Earthen Construction, and external collaborators is proving to be important and beneficial.

Buildings Realized Using Clay Materials

New Constructions

Renovation of Listed Buildings

Development in the Field of Natural Buildings

Thanks to the courage of the first builders who had "different houses" designed and built - energy-efficient houses using clay and other natural materials, we can today see how well they function, as well as what could have been done differently and better. This allows us to use experiences and inspire further development of these buildings here. We are on the threshold of confrontation between today's concept of manufacturing building materials as a technologically and energetically demanding and costly industry, compared to using natural materials as a naturally renewable potential of our Earth. It raises the question of whether so-called building chemistry is already an exhausted and surpassed direction, even though it is today a dominant and evolving sector. The connection between producers and suppliers of raw materials and energy, technology for production, and the enormous influence of construction on the world economy is understandably a reason for maintaining the current system. The demand for increasing production volume, employment in this sector, and higher profits is correlated with the development of increasingly complicated and expensive systems, compositions, and materials. This is then reflected in the designs of architects, the offerings of building materials on the market, and ultimately in what and how the contracting firms are capable of executing the construction. The builder pays for what was proposed in the project, recommended by the manufacturer, seller, and execution firm. And they have a house made of gas concrete, insulated with polystyrene, with plastic windows and floors. Do we really want to be surrounded by these materials? Do we have a valuable and healthy house?
The task of the architect and designer should be to inform the investor about alternative options in structural solutions and material selection. They bear responsibility first and foremost. Only through a holistic approach and consideration of all contexts in the design of a building can they create a valuable project and be a support for the builder. The inertia of thinking should be replaced with mobility and flexibility in searching for new possibilities and methods. People will demand higher quality and more affordable housing, and it is up to the creators of projects to stand by their side and fulfill these demands. To not offer compromises, but solutions that they are truly convinced of.
Construction and related manufacturing account for about 40% of global energy consumption. The current state of building materials production is not sustainable in the long term due to its energy intensity. A shift towards the use of natural materials on a larger scale can occur due to sudden shifts in energy prices or the unavailability of raw materials for the production of synthetic materials. What we perceive today as an alternative may become a necessity in a few years. At the same time, we are witnessing a spreading awareness of the interconnections associated with the way houses are designed and built, the selection of materials, and their impact on the environment. We can expect a more favorable price development for natural materials, a denser network of suppliers, and an expansion of natural building materials. It will be essential to focus on selecting suitable natural raw materials and sources, considering their availability in the given location, their connection to agriculture, and infrastructure. With an increased demand for houses made from natural materials, more companies capable of professionally securing their implementation will emerge.
Accelerating this process may involve incorporating environmental principles into education at all levels; providing consulting and organizing training, courses, and conferences for better awareness of architects, designers, and builders; continuing with the testing, certification, and evaluation of the properties of natural materials and their incorporation into technical standards.
Then it will be possible, even on a broader scale, to realize healthy and unique houses, in which builders can participate in their creation. Simple and purposeful solutions will reduce the initial costs of construction and energy consumption during living. By using natural materials from renewable sources, we will not burden the environment and at the same time create a house where we can breathe easily. Whether your house breathes is a question not only for the inhabitants of the house. Everyone involved in its creation has the opportunity to influence life in our homes.

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