The energy consumption is rapidly increasing in the today’s world due to various reasons. One of the reasons is the selection of building materials by construction sector. Therefore, the selection of eco-friendly and sustainable materials in energy conserved sustainable construction gains importance. Adobe became one of the most significant sustainable building materials since it is naturally available, environmentally friendly, climatically appropriate, economic and requires low energy to be produced.
However, in Cyprus adobe and vernacular houses built from adobe do not receive the attention that they deserve. Most of the vernacular adobe structures have been damaged over time due to the impact of the physical environmental causes, additions and transformations done in relation with the changing needs of their users. Maintenance of these damaged structures and transformations have been realised by using various materials rather than adobe.
Adobe is one of the oldest building materials and one of the comprehensively studied one. Majority of the studies related to adobe mainly focus on the characteristics of the material, production process, construction technique, typology of the adobe houses, how to improve the material and make it possible to be used today and in the future. However, there is a lack of study on why people do not prefer to make additions with adobe, live in adobe houses and do not build houses from adobe anymore. By considering this, the main aim of this study is to find out the reasons behind the negligence of adobe as a building material.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Adobe, Traditional Building Materials, User Preferences, Cyprus
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