Environmental assessment of rammed earth construction systems

Comparison between traditional and contemporary methods

Abstract

Considering the significant environmental impact of the civil construction sector, the use of earth has been rediscovered as a sustainable alternative to mitigate such impacts. This study aims to evaluate three construction scenarios for rammed earth walls, investigating the influence of mechanization, chemical stabilization, and formwork type on their potential environmental damage, such as CO₂ emissions, energy consumption, and land use. The Life Cycle Assessment method was applied using SimaPro v.9.1 software, the IMPACTWorld+ method and the Ecoinvent database, covering the extraction and processing of raw materials and construction processes. The scenarios compared manual and mechanized extraction and compaction, as well as stabilization with 5% Portland cement. The results indicate that the addition of cement significantly increases the impact of the system, while the use of electric compactors shows insignificant variations. Regarding the formwork, the use of plywood increased water and fossil energy consumption, but reduced land use compared to timber formwork. It can be concluded that the sustainability of the technique is sensitive to process and material decisions, showing that mechanization does not compromise the environmental profile as much as chemical stabilization.