Energy Efficiency in Buildings: Study of Single-Leaf Walls Made with Clay Bricks
Publication: Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 142, Issue 1
Abstract
The aim of this work is to study the possibility of improving the thermal transmittance of a single-leaf wall made with lightened clay bricks. A first aspect is to study the possibility of lightening the clay by using additives, reducing the clay’s conductivity without decreasing its resistive ability. The clay’s conductivity has been decreased by up to 40% through the use of a suitable proportion of additives, with no reduction in the brick’s compressive strength. This drop in conductivity (40%) represents a reduction of 20% in the wall’s thermal transmittance. The internal and external geometry of the bricks has been studied by the finite element method (FEM) for two types of clay, decreasing brick conductivity by 35%. Different wall assemblies with these bricks have been studied, obtaining a 24% improvement with a thin horizontal joint assembly. To quantify the savings made, a standard building has been studied, which has shown that decreasing the wall’s thermal transmittance by 43% would save 7.9% on the annual heating demand, according to calculations made with specialized energy efficiency rating software.
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Acknowledgments
Part of this research was conducted within the framework of the research program of Universidad de La Rioja, as part of Project API 11/12 funded by Banco de Santander.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Energy Engineering
Volume 142 • Issue 1 • March 2016
Copyright
© 2015 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 21, 2014
Accepted: Mar 4, 2015
Published online: Apr 17, 2015
Discussion open until: Sep 17, 2015
Published in print: Mar 1, 2016
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