Design and Characteristics of a Hybrid Wood-Soil System Made from Casuarina glauca Wood

Hassan Allam, Khaled Yosry, Mohamed Adham, Mohamed Darwish () and Khaled Nassar
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Hassan Allam: Housing and Building Research Center, Giza 12311, Egypt
Khaled Yosry: Housing and Building Research Center, Giza 12311, Egypt
Mohamed Adham: Arabia Contracting, Cairo 11765, Egypt
Mohamed Darwish: Construction Engineering Department, The American University in Cairo, Cairo 18375, Egypt
Khaled Nassar: Construction Engineering Department, The American University in Cairo, Cairo 18375, Egypt

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Wood has been used in construction has for several millennia; however, global warming has created situations in which the wood needs to be utilized in a more eco-friendly, sustainable, and cost-effective manner. Using wood from trees farmed on wastewater is an ideal option that has been found to be sound for this use. Casuarina glauca wood has been farmed on wastewater for years, making it eco-friendly and cost effective, in addition to being of relatively high strength when compared to soft woods. Hence, within this research, Casuarina glauca wood is used within a hybrid wood-soil system. A scaled model of the structure was constructed and tested structurally until failure in two horizontal planes: the lateral and transverse. The points of weakness in the connections were identified in order to adjust the design, which mainly involved the nails connecting the studs to the upper and lower beams. The adjusted model was constructed including additional X-braces and tested structurally, and was proven to have sufficient strength compared to the wind loads according to the Egyptian Code of Loading. The design was compared to its reinforced concrete alternative to assess its cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness in terms of the cost per unit area and the carbon emissions per unit area. The system proved to be more cost-effective and eco-friendly when compared to its reinforced concrete counterpart.

Keywords: Casuarina glauca; green buildings; hybrid wood-soil systems; timber structures; structural testing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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