## 1 Introduction  
Countries have committed in the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) to develop actions related to the building sector, namely developing sustainable cities and communities, combatating climate change, and promoting affordable and clean energy. The building industry has become the main obstacle on the road to achieving these global goals and protecting our planet [1]. The construction sector is responsible for up to 33% of CO\({}_{2}\) emissions, 40% of global energy use, and 40% of the entire waste production [1]. Such situations have motivated researchers around the globe to study the potential of stabilized soil using affordable alternatives with a low environmental impact [2]. Meanwhile, the scarcity of affordable housing around the world is significantly noted. More than 50 million house units are needed in Africa to face the housing shortage. Efforts are being made to encourage the construction of new houses for low-income families by using local building materials. Earthern buildings have been used for millennia and even today, approximately 35% of the world's population live and work in earthen houses [3,4]. Earth is an eco-friendly, low-cost, widely available building material that can help to promote living in comfort and decrease environmental issues. Compressed earth blocks (CEB) represent a widespread recent technique of earth construction discovered in the 1950s. They are considered as an evolution of old adobe,since the production process follows the same steps, only the compaction energy is increased. Furthermore, stabilization techniques (mechanical, physical, and chemical) have been used to improve their strength and durability. Nevertheless, earth blocks usually suffer from a lack of durability, low resistance to erosion, and low strength [5]. Many collapses have occurred after natural hazard disasters (e.g., monsoons, floods, storm surges, and tsunamis) in some regions around the world, which represents a major hindrance to the SDGs, and has led to the utilization of burned blocks and concrete bricks [5]. However, due to the low thermal performance, higher cost, and especially the higher environmental impact of these materials, renewed interest has been focused on environmentally friendly healthy earth-based building materials [6; 7; 8; 9]. Many studies on CEBs have proved that the incorporation of Portland cement and additives to earth blocks allows for an increase in their mechanical properties and resistance to water [5; 10; 11; 12; 13; 14]. Many authors have focused on the properties of stabilized CEBs [11; 13; 15; 16; 17; 18; 19; 20; 21]. The compressive strength of CEBs is influenced by the test method used [11] and increases with the increase in cement content [15]. The investigation of the influence of the curing period in CEBs stabilized with cement has shown that 28 days of curing provides the largest value of compressive strength [16]. Other research studies [6; 7; 8; 9; 11; 12; 13] have been carried out on cement as a widespread and recent chemical stabilizer, usually used with fibers and other additives. Nevertheless, the use of Portland cement enhances the embodied energy of the stabilized CEBs owing to the energy demand during the production of cement. Moreover, the use of chemical stabilizers did not improve the ductility, toughness, and tensile strength [22; 23]. It also generates the problem of recyclability due to the chemical reaction that transforms soil construction material into artificial stones [24]. A number of works have been focused on the effect of chemical stabilization on long-term strength and water absorption [14]. They have found that compressive strength increases and water absorption reduces over time. [PERSON] et al. [25] noticed that a mix of mechanical compaction and chemical stabilization up to a certain level could be the best method of stabilizing the blocks, providing good compressive strength and better durability at a reasonable cost.