Abstract
The widely held view is that the use of local materials in building design is highly beneficial because of the low cost of transportation and minimal environmental impact. The specific local material that the study shall focus is wood. Wood is a local building material. According to Khalili Nadar, an expert in ceramic house construction, local materials are timelessly available. Khalili and others believe that building materials should be universally available. Another assumption is that local materials have steady supply and cannot be exhausted. However, while materials may be readily available, available literature does not give sufficient explanation about the economic potential of building with local materials. Also the available literature does not show the financial gains earned by people who use local materials like wood, earth, bmboo, and crushed bricks for construction. This study shall investigate and calculate the financial impact in cities where local materials have been used. This study shall thus determine the actual percentages of cost reduction, for example, of transportation of goods and raw materials. The study shall also determine the extent to which the use of local materials benefits the environment. According to Ross, an expert in environmental studies, using local materials help the construction to have constant touch with the natural environment. For example, Cuixmala resort was constructed using local materials, and that is what making it highly sustainable and attractive to wealthy visitors. However, this study finds that the use of local materials is not as sustainable as the available literature suggests. The local materials are depleted as the society over-depends on them for construction. Using trees for construction is not sustainable as it increases the footage of CO2 in the atmosphere. Khalili’s eco-friendly way of building houses is said to have remarkable benefits in terms of energy consumption and building cost. If this is the case, from economic and environmental perspectives, this method outsmarts the use of modern materials. One of the objectives of this study is to examine if this argument could be supported by evidence. An architect should be a researcher too, for he is expected to find out what makes housing unaffordable to low income earners. In this regard, the opinion of Morel et al is significant, because they insist that selection of the appropriate building materials is highly important when it comes to environmental concerns. In order to determine the appropriateness of material selection, the volume of the energy consumption and environmental impact has to be considered rather than fiscal aspects. To be specific, we must address the wider issue of environmental impact and acknowledge that financial gain is not the only measure of success. It is important to quantify the gains of constructing with local materials. However, financial gain alone is not enough. Before selecting the local materials for building, an architect must understand the impact these materials have on environmental sustainability.
