Compressed carth blocks(CEB)retain the environmental benchts of traditional carthen construction while reducing labor costs and project duration.Despitc these advantages,CEB remains a niche matcrial in the U.S.This st...Compressed carth blocks(CEB)retain the environmental benchts of traditional carthen construction while reducing labor costs and project duration.Despitc these advantages,CEB remains a niche matcrial in the U.S.This study explored residential contractors'perceptions of CEB as a barrier to adoption.A survey was distributed to residential contractors in the North Carolina Picdmont,a region that possscs ideal soil for carthen buildings.Construction professionals in states where carthen construction has a larger market share(New Mexico,Oklahoma,and Texas)were also qucricd for comparison.Respondents with no CEB expcrience provided significantly(p<0.05)lower levcls of agreement with statements that CEB is cost ffective,struc-turally safe and acsthetically appcaling than did respondents with CEB experience.Intervicws conducted with an cxperienced CEB contractor and a manufacturer ol CEB production cquipment provided additional insight and informed the quantita-tive results.Findings represcnt an important stcp in exploring stakcholder perceptions as an impediment to the adoption of non-conventional matcrials like CEB in the residential construction scctor.Educating the next gencration of builders and home-owners is a key component for the implementation of CEB construction.Educational strategics,study limitations and opportunitics for further rescarch arc discussed.展开更多
文摘Compressed carth blocks(CEB)retain the environmental benchts of traditional carthen construction while reducing labor costs and project duration.Despitc these advantages,CEB remains a niche matcrial in the U.S.This study explored residential contractors'perceptions of CEB as a barrier to adoption.A survey was distributed to residential contractors in the North Carolina Picdmont,a region that possscs ideal soil for carthen buildings.Construction professionals in states where carthen construction has a larger market share(New Mexico,Oklahoma,and Texas)were also qucricd for comparison.Respondents with no CEB expcrience provided significantly(p<0.05)lower levcls of agreement with statements that CEB is cost ffective,struc-turally safe and acsthetically appcaling than did respondents with CEB experience.Intervicws conducted with an cxperienced CEB contractor and a manufacturer ol CEB production cquipment provided additional insight and informed the quantita-tive results.Findings represcnt an important stcp in exploring stakcholder perceptions as an impediment to the adoption of non-conventional matcrials like CEB in the residential construction scctor.Educating the next gencration of builders and home-owners is a key component for the implementation of CEB construction.Educational strategics,study limitations and opportunitics for further rescarch arc discussed.
