It’s the same total energy per bock. Their design starts out with 2 rings of stone. To simplify assume both piles are equivalent. The first layer of stones is raised by the width of a single stone. The next layer is raised twice the height of a single stone. The n+1 set is raised 2n+1 layers.

Starting with more piles means a lower initial height. But, the only things that matters when stacking is initial and final heights, and transmission losses.