Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper

RUSH FIBERS REINFORCED ADOBE FOR GREEN BUILDINGS

Wassef Ounaies

Abstract

In recent years, various local materials on a global scalehave been valued and research has multiplied,which has advanced the science of materials. Among these local materials which consume little energy, wecite raw earth which offers the advantages of a fullyvirtuous life cycle as well as plant fibers which arefrequently found in several regions of Tunisian territory.These materials have recently received increasedattention as an ecological and green alternative and havearoused the interest of a certain number of scientificworks in order to characterize this material and other natural materials available locally with a view tousing them in the construction and thermo-acoustic insulation of buildings. Raw earth is one of the modernbuilding materials, although it has been used worldwide for millennia, due to its hygrothermal, acousticand mechanical performance. It is a natural material available in abundance and easily recyclable. It oftendoes not require any purchase, transport or major transformation. This article aims firstly to present a stateof the art of building with raw earth (adobe) combined with plant fibers. The latter used as reinforcementin composite materials have specific competitive mechanical properties compared to those of syntheticfibers (glass, carbon, ...) and are an environmentallyfriendly alternative to these fibers because of their lowcost, low density, biodegradability and availability. Secondly, we present our approach to formulate anearth mortar allowing the making of blocks of adobe, intended for the construction of works such as walls,arches and domes. Adobe is stabilized and reinforced withtreated rush fibers.