Compressed earth blocks as a sustainable alternative for their integration into conventional construction systems in the city of Liberia

Abstract

Due to the impact of the climate crisis on the construction sector, it has increasingly shifted toward construction practices that utilize abundant local materials. Compressed blocks utilize one of the oldest local materials, earth, which was displaced over time due to its weak seismic resistance. However, these weaknesses have been overcome through stabilization and evolution with modern technologies and new construction techniques. In the Costa Rican environment, the architecture of the city of Liberia has been characterized by more than one hundred examples of earth construction through the application of adobe and bahareque, but has not adapted this sustainable material with good hygrothermal performance to safer and more efficient techniques, such as compressed earth blocks. In this paper, the constructive properties of Liberian soil are evaluated through granulometric field tests and the manufacturing process of compressed earth blocks that stabilize this material to integrate it into conventional construction is detailed. This article is part of the research project “The incidence of the use of soil from the city of Liberia as a construction material in the hygrothermal performance of interior spaces through simulation techniques”, developed by the Technological Institute of Costa Rica in cooperation with the Association for the Culture of Liberia.