The production process of conventional building materials consumes a high amount of energy which has a negative impact on the environment. The use of locally available materials and upgradation of traditional techniques can be a good option for sustainable development. Consequently, earth has attracted the attention of the researchers as a building construction material for its availability and lower environmental impact. On the other hand, in developing countries waste disposal from the agricultural and industrial sectors raises another serious concern. The scientists have introduced such waste additives into the earth matrix to improve its performance. Therefore, the present paper reviews the state-of-the-art of research on the effects of these various agro and non-agro wastes in the production of unfired earth blocks. This study is divided into three sections: The first section outlines the different types of waste materials and earth blocks considered in the selected papers. The second part deals in depth with the test results of the different properties (density, water absorption, compressive strength, flexural strength and thermal conductivity) of unfired earth blocks containing waste materials. The last section analyses and compares the results with the current earth-building construction standards. The literature survey presents that the waste materials have a clear potential to partly replace earth by complying with certain requirements. Moreover, the application of such wastes for the development of building construction materials provides a solution that decreases energy usage as well as contributes to effective waste management. Future research on establishing guidelines and standards for the development and production of these sustainable unfired earth building materials is recommended.
The building walls which form the major part of the building envelope thermally interact with the changing surrounding environment throughout the day influencing the indoor thermal comfort of the space. This paper aims at assessing in detail the different aspects (thermophysical properties, thickness, exposure to solar heat gain, etc.) of opaque building wall materials affecting the indoor thermal environment and energy efficiency of the buildings in tropical climate (in the summer and winter days) by conducting simplified simulation analysis using the Integrated Environmental Solutions Virtual Environment (IES-VE) program. Besides, the thermal efficiency of a number of selected wall materials with different thermal properties and wall configurations was analysed to determine the most optimal option for the studied climate. This study first developed the conditions for parametric simulation analysis and then addressed selected findings by comparing the thermal responses of the materials to moderate outdoor temperature and energy-saving potential. While energy consumption estimation for a complete operational building is a complex method by which the performance of the wall materials cannot be properly defined, as a result, this simplistic simulation approach can guide the designers to preliminary analyse the different building wall materials in order to select the best thermal efficiency solution.
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