2025, Vol. 6, Issue 2, Part B

The search of sustainable and thermally efficient construction material has increased the researches on the environmentally friendly alternatives of normal fired clay bricks. The work under consideration is an in-depth experimental research on the creation of eco-cooling bricks with the use of natural admixtures like the neem powder of leaves, rice husk ash (RHA), and an aloe extract. A total of four brick mixes, including a control and three altered mixes (P1, P2 and P3) were made to determine the effect of these natural additives on engineering and thermal performance. Laboratory tests were done to establish compressive strength, dry density and water absorption by IS.

The findings indicate that the compressive strength reduced with the natural admixtures additions, relative to the position of the standard mix, but the data were still satisfactory in application in non-load-bearing construction works. The addition of RHA and the powder of neem leaf had a great impact to decrease the dry density which helped in improving the light weight properties of the bricks. The absorption of water in the modified samples was higher because the natural admixtures were fibrous and porous. It has been observed in preliminary tests that thermal comfort has been improved because of the cooling nature of the additives. All in all, the paper reveals the prospect of natural admixture-based eco-cooling bricks as a promising, affordable, and thermally preferable substitute of houses in dry climatic conditions. Optimization of mix ratios, thermal conductivity studies, and durability over a long period of time should be further explored.