Authors closure to the Discussion of the Review article “Optimisation of Compressed earth blocks (CEBs) using natural origin materials: A systematic literature review”

Abstract

The purpose of this closure is to present a response to the doubts arisen by the authors of the Discussion of the Review article with the title “Optimisation of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) using natural origin materials: A systematic literature review” [1], published in the journal Construction and Building Materials on 1 October 2021. The body of the text answers directly to the five critical points raised, namely: soil reactivity as the main criterion in the selection process of soil for stabilisation purposes (no. 01); modification of the optimal water content in the case of stabilisation and doubtful effectiveness of the Proctor test (no. 02); contestation of the relationships found in the Review between the bulk density of CEBs optimised with natural materials and thermal conductivity (no. 03) and compressive strength (no. 04); consideration of the percentage of eroded area in the evaluation of CEBs’ durability (no. 05). As the results of this closure confirm that there is still the lack of information regarding this research topic, the article concludes with some recommendations for future studies. We thank the authors for the Discussion, which certainly enriches the state-of-the-art in the field of stabilised CEBs.