Thermal conductivity of unfired earth bricks reinforcedby agricultural wastes with cement and gypsum
Energy and Buildings • 2015
Publication Information
Authors
Taha Ashour
Keywords
Thermal conductivity, Unfired earth bricks, Straw reinforcement, fibres, Cement, Gypsum
Journal
Energy and Buildings
Publisher
Elsevier B.V.
Volume
Not Available
Issue
104
Pages
139-146
publication.type
International
Paper Link
Open Link
Supplementary Materials
Not Available
Abstract
tEnergy-efficiency of sustainable constructions and buildings are evaluated based upon the heating and cooling demands, but also according to the primary-energy demand, CO2 savings potential, and the eco-logical properties of building materials. To meet increasingly rigorous requirements, the demand for natural building materials is growing rapidly. The research objective of the here presented study is to stabilize soils with natural straw fibres to produce a composite, sustainable, non-toxic and locally building material. The material appropriateness was determined by establishing the thermal conductivity of a selection of unfired earth bricks that were identified as potential new natural building materials.The thermal conductivity is an essential material characteristic to achieve the required insulation level and for market success as a new product. The earth bricks consist of soil, cement, gypsum and straw fibres. Straw was applied as fibre reinforcement for unfired bricks. Two fibre types were used: wheat and barley straw. The results indicated that the thermal conductivity of all investigated variants decreased with increasing fibre content while increasing with higher cement and gypsum contents. They also show that barley straw fibre reinforced bricks exhibited the highest thermal insulation values. The addition of fibre positively improves both, thermal and static properties.
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