Envisaging Sustainable Building Materials for Earthen Construction Practices

Cost-effective construction practices generally rely on the selection of sustainable building materials irrespective of their environmental responsiveness and adaptability towards developing a comforting habitat. Present study aims to address the feasibility of developing soil-based building blocks using natural and recyclable materials by following modified adobe method. Unburnt bricks were manufactured from native red soil using optimized proportion of low cost binders and tested for their durability and thermal behaviour under various experimental conditions. An equi-molal binary mixture of cement and lime (15% each) was turned out to be the best combination to provide excellent compressive strength (6.43±0.15 N/mm²). As per the rate of water absorption and stabilization during the curing process, impounded bricks provided better results compared to the mat curing and spray curing. The rate of change in surface temperature of bricks added with lime and cement showed slightly lower values for cooling cycles (0.2°C/min to 0.5°C/min) compared to the heating cycles (0.6°C/min to 1.0°C/min) when exposed to solar radiation. The prepared bricks are found to be economic by reducing the construction cost by 40% on material. Based on the results, the red soil bricks provide an excellent choice as a sustainable building blocks to meet the increasing housing requirements.