ABSTRACT

Traditionally, man has built his shelter from the elements by placing materials one on top of the other to form walls and then bridging across the walls with beams to support the roof. The original materials for the walls were stone, earth, clay blocks or wood. The material was heavy so the main purpose of this form of construction was to 'stay up'. That is, the structure was built to resist gravity loads. This philosophy still obtains in the colder countries of the world. Dwellings are built with walls of significant mass to provide insulation and with roof structure of sufficient strength to withstand severe snow loading.