Earthen architecture, an alternative to construction industry to manage the drought crisis in Iran: Comparison between water usage in a building with three type of loading system: steel, concrete, and earth

Abstract: Iran faces water shortage crisis whilst construction industry consumes huge amount of water. There are not precise data about construction industry water consumption. Accordingly, lack of comparison as well as prioritization between prevalent structural systems and alternatives which probably use less water create problems in planning for less consumption. There are two questions which arise, aiming to decrease water consumption through selecting suitable structural systems for usual buildings (up to 3 stories): first, how much water is used in the usual structural phase in Iran? Next, to achieve  less water consumption in a structural system, the main essay question is stated: What is the ratio of the water used in earthen architecture to the amount used in usual construction system (concrete and steel)? Results show that earthen structures consume 7 to 15 percent less water than the same structure made by concrete and steel; in other words,  employing the earthen structure instead of concrete and steel reduces water consumption at least 2500 liters per each square meter of construction.