Durability
In a book first published in 1849 that still exerts influence in various pockets of artistic and architectural design communities, John Ruskin offered the observation that ". . . a building cannot be considered as in its prime until four or five centuries have passed over it." That point of view contrasts sharply with the evident acceptance across contemporary business and social culture of a normative service life of three decades as the outside range for most of what we build today.
The importance of longevity has been regarded as a fundamental goal or principle from the earliest known writings concerning building. Durability is the first of three standards specified by ancient Greeks as absolutes for valid architecture.
Durability is central to sustainability. Mainstream construction practices build structures that statistically stand, on average, for less than even a single generation; there is little about that whole enterprise that could be recognized as environmentally positive.
SIREWALL rammed earth structures offer service lives measured in centuries rather than years, and will stand as an enduring gift to future generations. And between now and then, will never require the maintenance of building materials that are destined to burn, rot, or decay.