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Adobe Bricks: The Best Eco-Friendly Building Material

Article  in  Advanced Materials Research · May 2015

DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1105.386

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Advanced Materials Research Submitted: 2015-01-23
ISSN: 1662-8985, Vol. 1105, pp 386-390 Accepted: 2015-01-23
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1105.386 Online: 2015-05-20
© 2015 Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland

Adobe Bricks: The Best Eco-Friendly Building Material

Djamil Benghida
Department of Architecture, School of Design & Creative Technology, Dong-A University, 840,
Hadan2-Dong, Saha-Gu, 604-714 Busan, South Korea
xdesign@dau.ac.kr

Keywords: Adobe bricks, Mud bricks, Clay, Local materials, Natural building, Sustainable building,
Energy efficiency, Embodied energy, Eco-materials, Earth architecture, Affordable housing.

Abstract. Durable, renewable, and affordable are the three characteristics of the adobe brick, one of
the widely used construction material in human civilization, but is always neglected. Traditionally,
price has been the foremost consideration when comparing similar materials or materials designated
for the same function. That is why by the post-war period, the concrete was adopted as a universal
building material in response of the massive housing demand. The intergovernmental concerns never
took into consideration both the sustainability factor and the cultural one, not until the 1990s when
research on climate change expanded and the sustainable development took an important place in the
different academic cross fields: engineering, biology, technology and architecture. The main focus by
then was the reduction the CO2 gas emissions emitted by the building sector which is now
approximately 30% of the global energy-related. Researchers are focusing on creating a completely
new green eco-material an alternative to the concrete, but in this paper, I will demonstrate why is it
worth to reinvigorate centuries-old eco-construction material. Adobe bricks are currently the best
choice to built affordable housings in response to the chronicle demand. Not only they have a track
record that makes their thermal mass performance easier to evaluate, but also they can last 400 years
or more when properly maintained. Comparatively, new technologies require testing over time to
determine their long-range effectiveness.

Introduction
Nowadays more than any other time, there is a positive shift towards sustainability and a stronger
motivation for finding the best sustainable way of living, notably in building construction industry
which basically contributes largely in the current environmental problems. The construction industry
is responsible for the issuance of various contaminants in the environment ; the production of
building materials usually results in significant negative environmental impacts. Eventually, the
building sector is one area that could greatly help reduce the effects of human development on the
environment if standards and regulations promoting sustainable development were imposed on large
construction companies. Indeed, buildings have a big share of the energy consumption, thus they have
a significant impact not only on the environment and but also on the natural sources. In 2001, Minke
[1] finds that the building sector and people’s activities are responsible of one third of energy-related
CO2 emissions. A decade later, a research by Zhai and Previtali [2] shows that buildings account for
45% of worldwide energy use. Given the massive growth in the building sector, and the
inefficiencies of existing building stock worldwide, greenhouse gas emissions from buildings will
more than double in the next 20 years, if nothing is done. This indicates that buildings need certain
improvements to achieve the goal of sustainability.
The first detected problem with buildings is the materials that are so widely used nowadays,
especially the modern materials for their inability to be recyclable or decomposed after their disposal,
but also by their high energy intensity or their production process. Thus « modern » building
materials constitute a big part of this « modern » problem.
However, if we go back to the past, vernacular architecture was very much energy efficient with
the materials available near the site and working with building techniques influenced by the local
climate. All the materials used by then were easily reused or decomposed; they actually presented the
best paradigms of ecological construction as they never harmed the environment around. This is the

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 Advanced Materials Research Vol. 1105 387

reason why going back to the old natural construction techniques is one of the best solutions for
tackling the current problem of unsustainability. In this paper, I propose to talk about the adobe
construction material as one of the best construction materials, and what fundamental advancements
are needed to facilitate a more widespread application of adobe as a building material.

Innovation in Construction Building Materials

Innovation refers to all new buildings and infrastructure that are planned and built according to
ecological design principles. This may emphasize one or more of the following : insulation, roof
overhangs, sustainable building materials minimizing embodied energy, thermal efficiency and
energy saving devices, recyclability of building materials and the demolished building, etc. The
development of effective innovations in the building sector remains difficult and often very expensive
in terms of financial investment, knowledge and time. For that reason, the building industry has a
slow, uneven and controversial technical development.
Sustainable building materials are key indicators in innovative buildings. However, with poor
competitiveness and poor productivity, along with big economic investments and the gap of research
and industry, the building sector is placed at the lowest level of innovation among other sectors. For
the same reasons, the sector is also exposed to a strong pressure that calls for the emergency of its
rapid development, and of creating new products with high values and low CO2 emissions. On one
hand there is a need for affordable and quick constructions with responsive buildings that do not
consume a lot of energy either during the construction process or during their life cycle; and on the
other hand, there is the necessity to use biodegradable composites for the building industry.
A conscientious global awareness resulted in the creation of different firms that promote the
innovation for the bio-compatible construction materials (biomaterials), such as the Cradle-to-Cradle
which is looking for an equilibrium between mankind and nature. An awareness rised in recent years
to reduce direct and indirect energy produced by the building sector in order to reduce the negative
impact on the ecosystem. The current use of materials is running down natural systems, suppressing
all kinds of possibilities for real development. To remedy this, it is of paramount importance to
conserve materials, reduce their unnecessary use, make them last longer, and recycle and reuse them.
Adobe bricks responds well to this goal but as any building material it has its strengths and its
weaknesses.

Adobe Bricks Construction: Goals, Advantages and Disadvantages

Adobe is a common prehistoric building material that is widely used in arid lands mainly because it
offers excellent stability in climates of extreme dryness. It is wrongly perceived as a sign of poverty
[3] probably because of its cheap price and mud composition, but it is also used to create
contemporary houses (Fig. 1) that are gifted with the thermal comfort, i.e., the low energy
consumption for heating during winter or cooling during summer.

Hacienda Adobe Residence North Scottsdal, Arizona, 2005, Courtesey of FHP Builders.

A single family houses, South Korea, Courtesey of mudbrickconstruction.

Fig. 1. Examples of contemporary adobe bricks architecture
388 Advanced Materials Research V

One of the principal goals of adobe construction is to protect the occupants from any climatic
effects like rain, wind and direct solar radiation [4]. This is why the composition and microstructure
of the mudbrick is important. The durability of an adobe structure will depend on its compressive
strength, durability, thermal conductivity, and most of all its porosity [5]. It is known that adobe
buildings are subjected to deterioation by weathering, especially by wind and moisture (either from
excessive rain water, rinsing ground water or high humidity).
Depending on the site location of earth extraction, the adobe composition may have different kind
of proportions, the reason why scholars mentioned different percentages. Basing myself on the study
of Brown and Clifton [6], adobe is principally made of: clay: 10-15%, silt: 10-15%, sand: 70-80% and
water: 25-30% [6]. The excess of one ingredient may cause the non-stability of the structure. The
right mixture of the ingredients is extremely important as with too much sand, the density of adobe
bricks increases and bricks would disintegrate, and with too much clay, bricks would crack as they
shrink. So basically, with the cycle of wetting and drying, the cracking becomes bigger and this
results in the instability of the structure.
The abobe bricks’ weakness = moisture absorbsion + weathering [cycling of wetting +drying]
= shrinkage cracks + erosion + spalling at the base
= unstable and non-durable structure
To avoid this cracking, and increase adobe’s resistance to shrinkage cracking, three main methods
are used:

The use of non eco-compatible stabilizer

Drying through baking

Application of sacrificial plaster
Another way is to add other natural fibers to adobe composition (like hemp or straw). Similar
materials do not have necessarily the same effect, for instance, while porosity problems can be solved
with mineral salts which behave as cementic agents like the carbonate mineral « calcite » CaCO3 [5],
other soluble salts such as Montmorillonite Na0.2Ca0.1Al2Si4O10(OH)2(H2O)10 absorbs moisture more
than needed and results in a cyclic salt recrystallization and a massive instability.
Calcite is a carbonate mineral which not only reduces the extent of water absorption in bricks
(porosity decrease), but also leads to plugged pores even the smaller ones due to precipiation. Thus
the calcite precipitation fills the carcks and porosity as a cementing agent filling all the fractures.
Calcite = cementing agent
Calcite + Clay = stabilized abobe bricks, durable and weathering resistant
= high degree of consolidation
Cementing materials (like cement, gypsum and asphalt) are also used to correct adobe strength,
ductility and toughness. However, cementing materials are not biodegradable, so they fail to answer
the call for sustainability.
In summary, making use of adobe bricks is definitely one of the best forms of sustainable building.
Adobe has a number of advantages and relatively few disadvantages. Their main disadvantages are
the low resistance to atmospheric agents, their mechanic resistance is not always suitable and the
production methods are still uncodified. It is also not easy to find experienced professionals mastering
the adobe construction methods (architects, masons, etc.). Plus, contruction material producers do not
like using the adobe bricks because of the low financial profit they earn comparatively with other
materials.
Nevertheless, adobe bricks have been for the construction of temples more than 3000 years and
even entire cities, such as the city of Shibam, Yemen [1]. They are non-toxic building materials which
ensure excellent thermal performance. They have a low energy requirement and are fire resistant,
sustainable, cheap, biodegradable, local, abundantly available and easily constructed in any shape,
color or size. Other benefits include low sound transmission levels through walls and having a low
environmental impact.
 Advanced Materials Research Vol. 1105 389

In their report, Morton et al. [7] showed (Fig. 2) that the unfired adobe bricks are using nearly three
times less energy than a lightweight concrete blocks, this is five times less energy than a fired
common bricks, and nearly seven times less than a fired engineering bricks and also eight times less
than an aerated concrete blocks. [7].

Fig. 2. Emboided carbon in different masonry materials [7]

In fact since the manufacturing energy is equal to zero, this makes this product very cost-effective
and very friendly.With exaclty zero waste construction material the abode is a reduddant material that
can be re-used for manufacturing new ones.

Conclusion
Adobe bricks treated with ecological and low-cost composants followed by natural fibers is an
effective solution for the water absorption and weathering, cycling of wetting and drying. The
composition of the adobe bricks should be 100% eco-compatible and biodegradable, avoiding any
stabilization with unsustainable compounds like cement and asphalt. Therefore, it is preferable to
follow a purist approach especially because it proved its efficiency in the past centuries.
This could be the solution of the weakness of the adobe bricks to built durable affordable and
environmental houses. Other than that, it is important to:
1. Create financial incentives (tax reduction, financing part of the construction) for projects using
the adobe bricks.
2. Directing research for improving exterior aesthetic appearance and marketing promotion
3. Establish laws regarding the composition of the mud in the constriction rules, regarding the
composition of the mixed earth and the sun-drying method.
4. Educate architects to this vernacular product, involving civil engineers to improve the
mechanical properties of the adobe using natural materials and finally create and international
research and training centers for the know-how.

References
[1] Minke, G., Manual de construcción para viviendas antisísmicas de tierra. Forschungslabor für
Experimentelles Bauen , Universidad de Kassel, Germany, (2001).
[2] Zhai, Z., Previtali, J. M., Ancient vernacular architecture: Characteristics categorization and
energy performance evaluation. Energy and Buildings 42, 357-365, (2010).
[3] Sheweka, S., Using Bricks as a Temporary Solution for Gaza Reconstruction, Energy Procedia,
Elsevier Ltd, 236-240, (2011).
[4] Bentz D , Quenard D, Kunzel H, Baruchel J, Martys N, Garboczi E. Microstructure and transport
properties of porous building materials. Three-dimensional X-ray tomographic studies. J.
Mater. Struct., 33 :147-153, (2000).
390 Advanced Materials Research V

[5] Clifton, J. R., Robbins, C. R., Brown P. W., Adobe. II: Factors Affecting the Durability of Adobe
Structures, Studies in Conservation, Maney Publishing. 24, No. 1 : 23-39. (1979).
[6] Clifton, J. R., Robbins, C. R., Brown P. W., Adobe. I: The Properties of Adobe, Studies in
Conservation, Maney Publishing. 23, No. 4: 139-146, (1978).
[7] Morton, T., Stevenson, F., Taylor, B., Smith, N. C., Low Cost Earth Brick Construction
Monitoring and Evaluation, Arc. Architects, UK, (2005).
 Advanced Materials Research V
10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1105

Adobe Bricks: The Best Eco-Friendly Building Material

10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.1105.386

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