Simulating the Thermal Behavior of Compressed Earth Brick Walls

authored by: Engy Hany, Nabil Fouad, Mona Abdel-Wahab, Ehab Sadek, Sherif Mahmoud
Abstract: The production of conventional bricks has negative impact on the environment due to CO₂ emissions. Therefore, the use of alkali-activated by-product materials as partial or full replacement of cement has been promising in producing eco-friendly compressed earth bricks for sustainable construction. This research aims to simulate the thermal behavior of an office building prototype composed of eco-friendly compressed earth brick (CEB) walls using Design Builder software to investigate the impact of CEB walls on the indoor thermal comfort, total energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. In addition to investigate the influence of the type and thicknesses of walls, and thickness of expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulating layer on the total energy consumption and (CO₂) emissions. The results indicated that using walls of compressed earth bricks (CEB) made by alkali-activated ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) as soil stabilizer with full replacement of cement is promising for reducing the total energy consumption and CO₂ emissions with competitive compressive strength to those stabilized by cement. The results also revealed the noticeable effect of the type and thicknesses of walls in addition to the thickness of EPS insulating layer in reducing the total energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. This reduction reached about 21–25% for different wall types of thickness 120 mm when EPS thicknesses increased up to 50 mm compared to the same walls without EPS.
Organisation(s): Institute of Building Physics
External Organisation(s): Ain Shams University
Military Technical College (MTC)
Type: Article
Journal: International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
Volume: 19
ISSN: 1976-0485
Publication date: 14.04.2025
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Civil and Structural Engineering, Ocean Engineering
Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 13 - Climate Action
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1186/s40069-025-00764-6 (Access: Open)