From waste to building material: compressed earth blocks as a regenerative masonry unit

Decarbonising the built environment is a core task to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. The two single most effective measures to decarbonise building materials are avoiding primary raw materials through circular strategies and shifting to low-carbon building materials. The adoption of unfired earth blocks as a substitute for conventional masonry materials addresses both goals, as they are not only a low-carbon building material but can also entirely be sourced from secondary sources and are theoretically infinitely recyclable. To date, their use within the industrialised construction sector has been limited, in part due to the absence of the necessary building regulations and lack of material optimisation. New standards introduced in Germany are now allowing their use in buildings up to five storeys. Bauhaus Earth, a Berlin-based research institute in the field of regenerative architecture and urban planning, is exploring the potential for a scaled adoption of earth blocks, and reports on their experience with the material, sourcing strategies, testing parameters and fields of application.