BUILDING MATERIALS ECO-DESIGN 3 NATURAL MATERIALS Answer these questions. a. What do you think the first building material used by man was? b. What is the building material mostly used in the area where you live? c. Do you think building materials are different in different geographical areas? Give examples. Building materials can be generally categorized into two groups, natural and synthetic or man-made. Natural building materials are those that are unprocessed or minimally processed by industry, such as wood. Fabric. Tents used to be home for nomadic groups all over the world. Two well-known types of tent are the conical tepee and the circular yurt. The tent has been revived as a construction technique, with the development of tensile architecture and synthetic fabrics. Modern buildings can include flexible materials such as fabric membranes supported by a system of steel cables, a rigid framework or internal air pressure. Mud and clay. The amount of each of the two materials used usually depends on the quality of the soil used. The other main ingredients can include sand and/or gravel. Soil and especially clay is good at keeping temperatures at a constant level. Homes built with earth tend to be naturally cool in the summer and warm in cold weather. Clay holds the heat or the cold, releasing it over a period of time, like stone. Walls change temperature A tepee Munich Olympic Stadium slowly, so artificially raising or lowering the temperature can take longer than in a wooden house, but the heat and the coolness will stay longer. Clay wall 60 Module 2 FOUNDATIONS Rock. Rock structures have always existed. It is the longest-lasting building material and is usually readily available. There are many types of rock, all with differing properties making them better or worse for different uses. Rock is a very dense material so while it can offer a lot of protection, its main disadvantage as a building material is its weight and hardness. In addition, stone is hard to keep warm without using large amounts of heating resources. Dry-stone walls (that is to say,