Estimating and mapping the availability of earth resource for light earth building using a soil geodatabase in Brittany (France)

Light earth is a natural insulating material composed of earth and vegetal fibres. It can be used to insulate existing and new buildings to reduce energy and resources consumption, and excavated earth generation by the construction sector. A pedological database is crossed with suitability thresholds in order to evaluate spatially the availability of earth resources. Then, the soil suitability is mapped, and suitable soil amounts metrics are estimated for Brittany territory. A sensitivity analysis is performed to understand the potential variability of the results. Study estimates that 48% of Brittany's soil horizons are suitable for light earth building. Every year, 1.3 Mt of suitable soil are excavated in Brittany. Using only these excavated earths, all existing and new buildings in Brittany could be insulated with light-earth in less than 8 years. This study shows that suitable earth availability is not a limiting factor to develop light earth insulation in Brittany.