An initiative from Architecture for Health in Vulnerable Environments (ARCHIVE) is working to decrease infectious disease rates in Bangladesh through a simple housing intervention: concrete floors. Homes with dirt or mud floors are prime gateways for gastrointestinal and parasitic pathogens, and both are widespread in the country's more vulnerable populations.
Children under five are particularly at risk, who are disproportionally impacted by such diseases to the point of morbidity or death. ARCHIVE's "High Fives" project aims to install concrete floors in 500 Bangladeshi homes by 2015 — a simple adjustment that ARCHIVE estimates would reduce children's risk of contracting parasites by over 75%, severely undercutting disease and mortality rates.
2 Comments
I wonder if rammed earth floors would essentially work same way. Its probably more to do with reducing surface porosity and moisture.
Maybe rammed earth with a sealant or epoxy floor over them. Concrete is nice because you can just polish it to reduce porosity.
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