When somebody is interested in building a house in the year-round-hot and humid regions, faces with the decision of using modern construction block material or the traditional red fired clay brick material. We performed mechanical and thermal controlled measurements on walls made using both materials. We found that the ancient tradition of using fired clay bricks, for the weather conditions in central Tabasco, represents an excellent alternative in cost and energy savings for construction. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.