Earth construction in Brazil: environmental assessment of rammed earth

• Autor(a) principal: Caldas, Lucas Rosse
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Martins, Adriana Paiva de Souza, Toledo Filho, Romildo Dias
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: PARC (Campinas)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.sbu.unicamp.br/ojs/index.php/parc/article/view/8656279
• topic: Construção com terra; ACV; Parametrização; Earth construction; LCA; Parameterization

This paper aimed to evaluate potential environmental impacts in the life cycle of the rammed earth construction technique, considering different configurations normally used in Brazil. Three contents of the chemical stabilizer, Portland cement, were evaluated at 5%, 10% and 15% (by mass). We used the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, considering the production and transportation stages of the raw materials, construction, and end-of-life of the rammed earth wall. The rammed earth configurations were compared with ceramic block masonry, concrete block masonry and on-site cast concrete wall. The results showed that the rammed earth is more advantageous, especially when the criteria of thermal capacity and weighted noise reduction index are used in the choice of the functional unit. The production of cement and wood formwork were the items that most influenced the environmental impacts in the rammed earth life cycle. Finally, it was possible to obtain the potential environmental impacts of the rammed earth life cycle parameterized by the wall thickness and cement content. Equations obtained by regression were presented. We also proposed recommendations for environmental improvement of rammed earth in Brazil.