Barriers hindering acceptance of earth construction in the urban context of the United Kingdom

Challenges to upscale earth block masonry in Western Europe from a life cycle perspective

“…However, SWI departs from stabilisation to convince and establish trust in EBM from building actors before non-stabilised earth can gain acceptance. [4] Disorganised supply chain [5] not urgent urgent very urgent…”

“…Regarding the resources, a challenge listed by [8] is to find local soil with the recommended proportion of clay, silt, sand and gravel, particularly in urban areas, whenever one wishes to avoid environmental impacts due to transportation, which is the case for all manufacturers. The manufacturers do not consider this a particular challenge, as was equally pointed out by [5] for practitioners in the UK. Consequently, the need for hydraulic stabilisation to correct the granulometric distribution and clay content is not necessary to produce earth blocks.…”

“…However, architectural applications with earth remain limited in the Western European context and climate. Although multiple earth construction techniques can be applied for interior and exterior and loadbearing and nonloadbearing purposes, the construction sector is reticent towards its adoption in mainstream construction [4,5]. Especially for interior non-loadbearing applications, earth may have a higher upscaling potential since it is protected from the elements and its mechanical performance is less demanding.…”

“…Based on many years of practical experience, [6] presents a roadmap for upscaling earth construction in which the perceived vulnerability and labour-intensive process of earth construction and the lack of norms and education are the primary challenges to overcome. However, research about inter-and intrarelationships between barriers and drivers is lacking to confirm this statement [5]. In addition, most studies consider the challenges of earth construction in general [4,5,7].…”

“…However, research about inter-and intrarelationships between barriers and drivers is lacking to confirm this statement [5]. In addition, most studies consider the challenges of earth construction in general [4,5,7]. Nevertheless, according to [8], every technique may have unique hurdles that should be identified.…”