Low Cost Housing in Egypt by Using Stabilized Soil Bricks

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2021

The Academic Research Community Publication, 2018

Currently, there are several technologies applied in many societies to improve the use of the environmental resources such as the use of soil with some binders in the construction of buildings, and the usage of the stabilized earth architecture technique by new urban communities. One of the advantages of these buildings is that they make good use of the environment and save energy and expenditure. This project deals with the use of the sandy soil which resulted from the excavation of the buildings. It also targets the design and building of whole low energy, ecological, and low-cost green building/villages in the future projects in Sinai and Suez Canal zone, using stabilized earth architecture. The sandy soil under study is that of the sand on the east side of the Suez Canal in Sinai which is a by-product of the dry excavation and wet drilling of the canal. This paper shows that passive and energy efficient techniques incorporated in building designs can reduce the electricity requirements. The most effective parameter is the thermal efficiency of building envelope and blocking sun rays. The available renewable energy systems can meet parts of building loads. Thermal bridges are not so common in the bearing wall construction method. Herein in this paper, several specimens were collected from different sites in Elferdan and Serapum in Sinai (Suez canal zone) along the east side of the Suez Canal to investigate the suitability of stabilizing this soil for the production of compressed earth blocks for low-cost ecologic building construction. Several tests, e.g., sieve analysis and the proctor test, were made of the specimens. The results showed that the ratio of salts, chlorides, and sulfates were low. In addition, the specimens collected sieve analysis ranged from coarse to fine sand. Stabilizing the materials resulted from the by-production in the industry can be used for minimizing the coast of compressed stabilized earth buildings with high engineering properties. Experiments on the produced compressed stabilized earth bricks (CSEB) with different level of stabilizing agent (by-product materials) were made using one of the specimens collected from Elferdan zone. The results showed that the 35% CKD ratio of sand weight can be considered as the optimum CKD content; which provides the best properties for the admixture as long as the percentages of cement (OPC) and the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) are 5% and 0.07% of sand weight, respectively. The rest of this research will be completed in the next parts, which includes finding more mechanical, engineering, and thermal properties of the produced CSEB.

2011

Building with earth is one of those ancient technologies which still remain alive in the place untouched by industrialization. Innovation, however, has evolved low strength sun dried adobe into burnt clay brick with more strength gained. Mounted interest in searching sustainable green building material has created compressed earth stabilized brick which attract people for its low carbon emission especially in the production stage. This paper demonstrates the properties and benefit of CSEB compared to conventional brick especially in strength and durability. Past researchers has shown that with proper used of stabilizer and with right compressibility will improve the performance of CSEB. The result showed that compressed stabilized earth bricks are comparable with every respect of burnt clay brick.

Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica y Vidrio, 2021

The housing problem in Tunisia has become more acute due to the high cost of construction materials, thus constituting a source of concern for the population. To resolve the crisis, upgrading abundant local materials has become a necessity. This paper aimed to assess the potential use of Jebel Menchar's geomaterial to develop compressed earth brick (CEB). Laboratory tests were performed to determine the physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. Series of destructive and non-destructive tests were carried out to characterize the properties of bricks based on their composition in terms of compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption and ultrasonic testing. The results indicated that all of the bricks studied exhibited a compressive strength greater than 2.3 Mpa during the 28-day experiments, thus suggesting a high potential ability to reduce building material problems, while also providing the brick industry a useful and inexpensive new raw material with less CO 2 emissions.

Architecture Engineering and Science, Singapore, 2023

The most popular building material in India is burnt clay brick, which not only contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions but also removes a large amount of topsoil from agricultural land each year. Traditional burned brick places a great deal of strain on the environment because the burning process produces greenhouse gases. Compressed Earth Block (CEB) is among the eco-friendly building materials. It is also known as a pressed earth block or a compressed soil block. It is created by mixing the proper ratios of non-expansive clay, non-expansive subsoil, sand, and aggregate. Earth blocks are created by compressing wet earth and letting it dry in a controlled atmosphere. A machine that may be powered manually or electrically is used to compress the damp earth. The compressed earth blocks have the advantage of being constructed from local clays and soils that may be found on or close to the construction site, which contributes to their sustainability. For sustainable development, the Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (CSEB) provides the possibility for natural, energy-efficient, environmentally friendly, and agriculturally compatible building materials. This paper examines the case of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) for load-bearing wall construction as well as filler material in buildings. It also discusses the engineering viability and properties of such compressed earth bricks. The paper concludes that compressed earth bricks are a realistic alternative to regular bricks with additional benefits.

2011

This paper is a review of the state of uses of clay bricks and stabilized compressed earth blocks. We offer an overview of the world general building using clay bricks or stabilized compressed earth blocks compiled from various research organizations, modern projects which have been carried out and reports from existing manufacturing of clay bricks or stabilized compressed earth blocks. Although, stabilized compressed earth blocks as construction materials are highly unknown to most people, its advantages are seen in terms of rescuing the heritage and also as rediscovered environmentally- friendly building materials. Key words: Clay bricks, stabilized compressed earth blocks.

Construction and Building Materials, 2011

2021

The southern rural regions of Hawassa village, Ethiopia customarily practices Chika-pet and adobe masonry houses. They use soil, wood and teff straw adobe bricks in house construction, due to its extreme poverty and unsophisticated manner of living. These houses are unsustainable and flimsy due to its inclusion of easily degradable raw materials, non-engineered construction practice, poor earthquake resistance and rapid climatic uncertainties. Moreover, the soil utilized for the adobe brick making is consumed from far away distant regions by ignoring their native Hawassa soil due to its unsuitable brick making characteristics. This impacts the economical expenditure of the poor income inhabitants. Therefore, this research is intended to facilitate the Hawassa village inhabitants by improving their native soil characteristics on adding lime and considers it for brick unit formation. In addition, an alternative reinforcement called pineapple leaf fibre is introduced for the adobe bric...

2010 International Conference on Science and Social Research (CSSR 2010), 2010

Earth as a building material has already known for centuries started with plain mud and straw utilized sun dried producing brick adobe with low strength and durability until its evolved to become fired clay brick with mass rapid production in the kiln. In the growing concern of awareness regarding sustainable building material and environmental issue, Compressed Stabilized Earth Brick (CSEB) give the view of energy efficient, cost reduction and environmental friendly building materials, overall contribution on the sustainable development. It turned out that CSEB properties can be very easy bear comparison with other materials such as concrete block or normal fired brick.