Eco-Friendly Architecture for the Tropics: A Comparative Study of Sustainable, Low-Cost Housing Using CSEB, Bamboo, and Fly Ash Bricks

Vansh Piyushkumar Thakkar

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.64527

Eco-Friendly Architecture for the Tropics: A Comparative Study of Sustainable, Low-Cost Housing Using CSEB, Bamboo, and Fly Ash Bricks

Author(s)	Mr. Vansh Piyushkumar Thakkar
Country	India
Abstract	The residential building sector is responsible for a substantial share of global energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, driven largely by resource-intensive materials such as reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and fired clay bricks. At the same time, many households in tropical regions struggle with escalating construction costs and poor thermal comfort, leading to increased reliance on mechanical cooling. This paper presents a comparative design and simulation study of a designing single family housing unit that replaces conventional RCC and fired clay brick construction with a low-energy, high-mass material palette compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) for walls, bamboo for primary structure, and fly ash bricks for internal partitions. Using cradle to gate embodied energy estimation and dynamic thermal performance simulation for a typical peak summer day (outdoor maximum 40 °C); the proposed design is compared against a conventional RCC fired brick baseline of similar size and spatial programme. Results indicate that the sustainable scheme can achieve approximately 70% reduction in embodied carbon and about 22% reduction in construction cost, primarily by substituting high-impact materials and eliminating plaster and paint through exposed CSEB finishes. Thermal simulations show that the proposed unit maintains indoor temperatures up to 9 °C cooler than the outdoor peak, largely through orientation, buffer zones, stack-effect ventilation, and high thermal-mass walls. The findings are discussed against recent literature on CSEB performance, bamboo as a structural material, fly ash based bricks, and passive cooling strategies in hot and humid climates. The study concludes that combining vernacular principles with tested alternative materials can deliver affordable, low-carbon, thermally comfortable housing, while also supporting local livelihoods. Limitations and directions for future empirical field monitoring and detailed life-cycle assessment are outlined.
Keywords	sustainable housing, compressed stabilised earth blocks (CSEB), bamboo structure, fly ash bricks, embodied energy, passive design, tropical climate
Field	Engineering
Published In	Volume 7, Issue 6, November-December 2025
Published On	2025-12-25
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2025.v07i06.64527

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Eco-Friendly Architecture for the Tropics: A Comparative Study of Sustainable, Low-Cost Housing Using CSEB, Bamboo, and Fly Ash Bricks

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