Investigating Affordability of ECO Housing with CEB and Clustered Urban Form

Mohammad Fahmy, Founder and PI of Research Excellence Center for Urban Environment Governance and Sustainability, Military Technical College (MTC), P.O. Box 11662, Cairo, Egypt AND Professor of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism, Architecture Engineering Department, Military Technical College (MTC), P.O. Box 11662, Cairo, Egypt; AND Head of Architecture Branch, Engineering Consulting, Army Engineering Authority, Egypt Follow
Ayman Ibrahim, MSc candidate at the Department of Renewable Energy and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Smart Village Campus, Cairo, 12577, Egypt Follow
Omar Galal, Assistant Professor at the Department of Architectural Engineering and Environmental Design, College of Engineering, Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Smart Village Campus, Cairo, 12577, Egypt Follow

Abstract

This study examines the affordability of eco-housing through the integration of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEB) and clustered urban form. It hypothesizes that the combined approach of sustainable building materials and climate-responsive neighbourhood planning enhances cost and energy efficiency while maintaining social housing accessibility. By assessing economic feasibility alongside environmental and urban design strategies, the research aims to provide insights into sustainable solutions towards future urban developments and a 5th generation for Egyptian cities. Computational simulations utilizing ENVI-met for urban microclimate assessment and Design Builder for indoor environment evaluation demonstrated improved results for outdoor and indoor environments. For outdoor assessment, design case CEB (DCCEB) in comparison with base case CEB (BCCEB), the design case resulted in a reduction in MRT by 7.91°C when DCCEB compared to BCCEB at 02:00 PM, global radiation by 299.45 W/m2 at 01:00 PM, and outdoor thermal comfort PET by 5.30°C at 02:00 PM. For running cost and carbon emissions, both scales hourly and monthly were simulated, on hourly scale, DCCEB resulted reduction in cooling loads and CO₂ throughout the day, aggregately, compared to BCCEB by 40.81% and 31.03%, respectively, while on monthly scale, DCCEB reduced the cooling loads and CO₂ aggregately throughout the year in comparison with BCCEB by 26.48% and 14.13%, respectively. For the construction cost, the design case with two block types A&B saved 22.99% and 10.88% compared to the lowest cost of the base case scenarios on the individual building scale, while on the entire neighbourhood as an urban scale, the design case saved 21.81% compared to HBB and 22.86% in comparison with SCB scenario.

Keywords

Earth blocks, Courtyard clusters, Passive urban form, Neo-Arid neighbourhood, 5th generation cities, Thermal comfort, Sustainability, Affordable housing

Recommended Citation

Fahmy, Mohammad; Ibrahim, Ayman; and Galal, Omar (2026) "Investigating Affordability of ECO Housing with CEB and Clustered Urban Form," HBRC Journal: Vol. 22: Iss. 1, Article 12.
Available at: https://journal.hbrc.edu.eg/journal/vol22/iss1/12