In the heart of France, a humble house stands as a beacon of innovation, challenging conventional wisdom about sustainable building materials. This isn’t just any house; it’s a raw compressed earth brick (CEB) test house, meticulously constructed and instrumented for research purposes within the advanced Sense-City equipment at Champs-sur-Marne. The brainchild of Julien Waeytens, a researcher at Univ Gustave Eiffel, this project is pushing the boundaries of what we know about earth construction and its potential to revolutionize the energy sector.
Waeytens and his team have embarked on an ambitious journey to understand the hygrothermal behavior of CEB houses, aiming to bridge the gap between material science and building performance. “We wanted to create a comprehensive case study that could provide valuable insights into the energy efficiency and thermal comfort of earthen houses,” Waeytens explains. The house is equipped with a plethora of sensors, monitoring everything from indoor and outdoor temperatures to humidity levels and heat flux on wall surfaces.
The findings are intriguing. Despite the low thermal resistance of the walls, the CEB house demonstrates an impressive ability to regulate indoor temperature and humidity. During summer heat waves, the walls act as a buffer, dampening and delaying the ingress of hot outdoor temperatures. In winter, the story is more complex, with humidity levels varying depending on wall orientation and height, particularly in walls exposed to rain. This nuanced understanding of hygrothermal behavior could pave the way for more efficient, sustainable building designs.
The implications for the energy sector are significant. As the world grapples with climate change and the need for sustainable building practices, earth construction offers a promising alternative. With its low-energy manufacturing process and abundant availability, raw earth could play a pivotal role in reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry. Moreover, the ability of CEB houses to regulate indoor temperature and humidity could lead to substantial energy savings, as buildings become more self-regulating and less reliant on mechanical heating and cooling systems.
The research, published in Case Studies in Construction Materials, is a testament to the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and innovative thinking. By combining material science, building physics, and advanced instrumentation, Waeytens and his team have opened up new avenues for exploration in the field of earth construction. As we look to the future, it’s clear that the humble earthen house could hold the key to a more sustainable, energy-efficient built environment.
The data collected from this study is now publicly available, inviting other researchers to build upon these findings and further advance the field. As Waeytens puts it, “This is just the beginning. We hope that our work will inspire others to explore the full potential of earth construction and contribute to a more sustainable future.” The stage is set for a new era in building design, and the future looks promisingly earthy.