ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT This life cycle assessment compares two emergent environmentally sustainable masonry blocks, stabilized soil blocks and alkali-activated blocks. The functional unit is one hollow-celled masonry block of compressive strength of 13.1 MPa. The system boundaries are from the raw materials extraction to storing at the manufacturing facility. The environmental impact of each type of masonry block is compared to a base case consisting of conventional concrete block and architectural concrete block, according to the midpoint and endpoint indicators. The results indicate significantly improved embodied carbon of the emergent masonry blocks. The stabilized soil block shows improvement of health and ecological indicators. The conventional concrete block remained the most water efficient. The results are projected at the building and neighborhood scale. Both embodied energy and carbon can be reduced further as efficiency is improved during the manufacturing process. Sourcing alkali activators as byproducts would also reduce water consumption required.
