Comparative Life Cycle Assessment and Cost Analysis of Brick-and-Concrete and Modern Rammed Earth Houses: A Case Study in Rural China

Paper i proceeding, 2025

In addressing global climate change, China's rural housing renewal offers a critical opportunity to enhance sustainability. While brick-concrete structures dominate rural areas, modern rammed-earth houses are emerging as a promising alternative due to their environmental and economic advantages. However, there is a lack of quantitative comparisons between the life cycle performance of these housing types, creating a gap in evidence-based guidance for sustainable rural construction. This study examines two representative houses in Ningyuan County, Hunan Province: one rammed-earth and one brick-concrete. By analyzing their design, construction processes, expenditure patterns, and labor/material requirements, the research employs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify carbon emissions and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) to assess financial expenditures. The study identifies discrepancies between pre-construction estimates and post-construction measurements of the rammed-earth house's lifecycle performance, investigating causes to inform future practices. Through comparative analysis of environmental and economic factors, such as material reuse, building performance, local sourcing, and social sustainability, the research highlights the strengths and weaknesses of both housing types. These findings provide empirical evidence to support the broader adoption of rammed earth. It also establishes preliminary localized datapoints of embodied carbon (241 kg CO(2)e/m(2) for rammed earth, 417 kg CO(2)e/m(2) for brick-concrete) for rural housing in southern China. Grounded in a case study from a rural, underdeveloped village, the results offer insights for construction practices in similar contexts in the Global South.