Reducing carbon dioxide emission by the adoption of contemporary earth construction in urban Bangladesh

Abstract

Stabilised earth is an alternative building material which is cheaper than conventional brick and concrete, and is also environmentally sustainable. Earth has been used as a construction material in every continent and in every age. The use of earth on site as a building material saves manufacturing cost, time, energy, environmental pollution and transportation cost. Most developing countries, in particular Bangladesh does not have any well structured and effective program to address the global agenda of environmental sustainability through the use of appropriate construction materials. In order to demonstrate stabilized earth as a sustainable appropriate construction material, the experiences and practices of using earthen architecture can be studied and harnessed from other countries todemonstrate the dynamism of this earth material suitable for construction in urban Bangladesh. This paper reviews and argues the environmental benefits (less carbon dioxide emission) of using stabilized earth as a building material and associated construction techniques for urban construction in Bangladesh. A critical literature review method was adopted in this paper to investigate how contemporary earth construction produces less carbon dioxide compared to the conventional brick and concrete construction.