Building houses with local materials: means to drastically reduce the environmental impact of construction

Morel, Jean‐Claude; Mesbah, Ali; Oggero, M; Walker, Pete

doi:10.1016/s0360-1323(00)00054-8

Cited by 452 publications

(180 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…On the other hand, SRE requires less maintenance once erected. This, however, comes with an environmental cost: first of all, cement manufacturing is responsible for high CO 2 emissions; secondly, although traditional RE has the potential to use zero transport energy (presuming that the soil available on the construction site is suitable), stabilisers must be transported from the nearest batching plant to the construction site [12,13]. This argument motivated the research presented in this paper: assessing the life cycle environmental impact of SRE by taking into account its embodied energy, mechanical strength and durability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle analysis of environmental impact vs. durability of stabilised rammed earth

Arrigoni

Beckett

Ciancio

et al. 2017

Construction and Building Materials

100

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Rammed earth (RE) has enjoyed a revival in recent decades due to the increasing awareness of environmental issues surrounding the building industry. Although RE in its traditional form is deemed a highly environmentally-friendly material, the same cannot be said for its modern stabilised counterpart. Comprehensive experimental procedures exist to estimate mechanical strength properties of stabilised RE (SRE). However, tests for material durability are far less common. Engineers and practitioners therefore assume that strength and durability are interchangeable properties, i.e. the stronger the material, the more durable. Inflated strengths are recommended to ensure adequate durability, leading to high environmental costs through excessive use of stabilisers. This paper rates the relevance of two acknowledged durability tests (accelerated erosion due to sprayed water and mass loss due to wire brushing) and relates outcomes to the strength and the environmental impact of several SRE mixes. The environmental impact of each mix was estimated using attributional and consequential life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches as well as an assessment of cumulative energy demand. Results demonstrated that it is possible to have durable SRE mixes without paying the cost of using environmentally-expensive stabilisers

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle analysis of environmental impact vs. durability of stabilised rammed earth

Arrigoni

Beckett

Ciancio

et al. 2017

Construction and Building Materials

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For instance in the United Kingdom, it has been reported that dwelling and household usage accounts for 50% of all energy consumed and about 8% (350 PJ per year) is used to manufacture and transport building materials. (Adalberth K., 1996in Morel et al, 2001. Waziri et al, (2013) compared energy consumed as well as the amount of carbon emissions between Compressed Earth Bricks (CEB) and other conventional bricks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the use of lateritic soils in the construction/development of sustainable housing in Africa: A geological perspective

Oyelami

Rooy

2016

Journal of African Earth Sciences

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Highlights• Appraisal of the previous work in the use of tropical soils in low cost, energy efficient housing development.• It established CEBs as sustainable building materials for a sustainable environment.• Identification of lateritic soils as suitable material in the production of CEBs.• Established the importance of parent rock material (its type and mineralogy) in strength and durability of CEBs.• Discouraging the common practice of firing clay bricks for the sake of sustainable environment. AbstractLateritic soils have been described as highly weathered tropical or sub-tropical residual soils with varying proportions of particle sizes ranging from clay size to gravel, usually coated with sesquioxide rich concretions. It is sometimes referred to as brick earth based on its use. The use of laterite and lateritic soils have been found to promote the realization of decent housing and bridging the housing deficit, especially in Africa.The author has attempted to review available information on the recent trends in building bricks and housing development with the aim of identifying a suitable soil material that will meet the present challenge of sustaining the environment without costing too much and maintaining a high standard of strength, durability and aesthetics. A critical review of laterite and lateritic soils from a geological point of view indicated these soils to be one of the best natural materials used in the production of compressed earth bricks. Lateritic soils are mostly well graded, comprising both cohesive (silt and clay) and cohesionless (sands and gravels) soil fraction, it contains sesquioxides and clay minerals which are very useful in the natural binding process as well as in the presence of most chemical binders.Compressed earth bricks are mainly composed of raw earth materials (soil) with their cohesion due principally to the clay fraction present in both humid and dry states. CEB's promote building in a 'sustainable' way and offers a good prospect to using our resources in an efficient manner while creating dwellings that improve human health, well-being and preserving a better environment, with an affordable and natural alternative.

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“…9.7 h (in the case of 30 cmthick walls of reinforced concrete). Even higher decrement delays (> 12 h) are presented by limestone walls over 40 cm thick that are found in traditional architecture and also in applications still used today in many parts of the Mediterranean [5]. These values show that the thermal mass of building shells makes a satisfactory contribution to the improvement of internal temperature conditions by moderating and delaying diurnal temperature extremes.…”

Section: Methods For Controlling the Fluctuating Environmental Influementioning

confidence: 95%

An Overview of the Architectural Methods Used to Manage the Variable Environmental Influences on Buildings in the Mediterranean Region

Papamanolis¹

2014

J Archit Eng Tech

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Most of the environmental influences on buildings are variable by their very nature. This fact creates a need for diverse solutions in energy and environmental design and construction that can facilitate optimum building performance throughout the changing periods. Such solutions, in order to be successful, should be compatible with the climatic, and more generally environmental, conditions that prevail in the region where they are applied. Solutions that satisfy these requirements can come from a wide variety of fields, ranging from vernacular architecture to applications of smart materials and technologies. This paper presents an overview of conventional design and construction measures and practices for managing the variable environmental influences on buildings in the Mediterranean region. To that end, it identifies the environmental factors whose variable behaviour influences the energy and environmental performance of the buildings that are subject to them, and it also evaluates their impact. The study goes on to describe and evaluate the design and construction choices and practices that are implemented in buildings in the region to manage these influences. The aim of this work is to report on the main characteristics of these methods and investigate any ways in which they might be improved.

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Building houses with local materials: means to drastically reduce the environmental impact of construction

Cited by 452 publications

References 3 publications

Life cycle analysis of environmental impact vs. durability of stabilised rammed earth

Life cycle analysis of environmental impact vs. durability of stabilised rammed earth

A review of the use of lateritic soils in the construction/development of sustainable housing in Africa: A geological perspective

An Overview of the Architectural Methods Used to Manage the Variable Environmental Influences on Buildings in the Mediterranean Region

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