Earth Construction: The Mechanical Properties of Adobe with the Addition of Laponite

Abstract

The contribution describes testing of compression strength, flexural strength and abrasion resistance of adobe made up of soil, water and sand (AS), soil, water, sand and straw (ASP), soil, water, sand and laponite nanoparticles (ASN). Embodied energy in materials presents an increasingly high percentage of the energy spent in the whole life cycle of a building. The same applies for carbon dioxide (CO2). Therefore, the development of new sustainable construction materi- als with lower embodied energy and lower CO2 emissions is needed. The use in construction of the brick made from soil, water and sand or straw, called adobe, boasts a millenary tradition and in recent years there has been re- newed interest in a material readily available and ecofriendly. Earth is a building material that is able to act perfectly in balance with the environment: earth lends itself to achievements accessible to any manufacturing organization and is also a re- source available in most geographical contexts. It allows one to manufacture prod- ucts suited to pursue energy conservation and comfort in different climatic regions. The use of adobe presents: reduction of embodied energy and CO2 at component level; improvement of insulation properties; reduction of the total costs compared to existing solutions.