Wildfire, in one way or another, touches nearly everyone who lives in California and, increasingly, the West. How do you make your home where disaster is a given? How do you learn to live with it?
Those questions are at the root of s research. He co-directs the and is a professor of structural engineering. Hes trying to find ways to build affordable homes that can withstand most of what the planet throws their way.
I started with some colleagues looking at a new way of building, Barbato said. We ended up looking back at a very ancient solution something thats been around for more than 10,000 years.
That technology was mud, or rather an engineered form of it called compressed and stabilized earth blocks.
Barbato and colleagues have tested it against multiple hazards, including earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes. When he moved to 做TV, he naturally expanded the research to wildfire. He and his lab have tested earth blocks in a furnace at nearly 2,200 F. It doesnt burn.
Learn more about this and other 做TV wildfire and smoke research in the multimedia feature story, The House That Doesnt Burn, published today on 做TV Science & Climate.
Media Resources
Media Contacts:
- Michele Barbato, 做TV Civil and Environmental Engineering, mbarbato@ucdavis.edu
- Kat Kerlin, 做TV News and Media Relations, 530-750-9195, kekerlin@ucdavis.edu
Additional Resources: