TOWARDS THE REGULARIZATION OF EARTH CONSTRUCTION IN COLOMBIA. Research on seismic resistant earth construction standards and the criteria for its possible application in the Country.

In consideration of the rising demand for household in Latin American countries due to population increase, and the necessity for much more sustainable buildings, already in 1980 earth construction was proposed as a possible solution by the UNESCO. In addition, in countries with a high social and economic inequity, like Colombia, these materials suppose an interesting alternative since their low cost makes them affordable for much of the population. However, even though there is a bast cultural heritage (material and non-material culture) regarding earth buildings in Colombia, and that is still used nowadays as a construction material in some specific cases, there is not a normative, building manual or guideline document about new construction for earthen buildings in the Country. Furthermore, the low ductility of earthen compounds and the geographic location of Colombia in a high seismic hazard zone propose a challenge in the legalization of this material. The present document analyses the topic of earth construction in Colombia from the Seismic Resistant Normative perspective. A review of the Country’s normative is made to understand its legal restrictions and the information it provides for each structural system. Then research on international earth construction standards is carried out from which a selection of documents is made with a special interest in the strategies, reinforcements, and requirements that these normative have determined as necessary and sufficient for seismic resistant earth buildings. Then, their compatibility to the Colombian context is analyzed to finally propose a framework of requirements that correspond to the ones that the current NSR provides for the different structural systems it considers. Finally, though research on scientific literature a mechanical characterization of a seismic resistant earth masonry system that may serve as a guideline to the further development of a document for New Seismic-Resistant Earthen Structures is proposed.