Use of rammed earth in Aboriginal communities of Australia

The Department of Housing of the Government of Western Australia, acknowledging the benefits of using rammed earth in remote areas, has recently decided to use rammed earth to build around 300 houses in the next 3 years in remote Aboriginal communities of the Kimberley, northern territory of Western Australia. This paper assesses the social, economic and environmental benefits of this project. It also discusses the possible thermal behaviour of a rammed earth house in the Kimberley and how the restrictions on the insulating properties of the walls of a residential house dictated by the Building Code of Australia currently represent an obstacle for the use of rammed earth.