Performance Assessment of Giant Reed-Based Building Components

Abstract

The growing concern for the reduction of energy needs and the environmental impact of the building sector has placed emphasis on the possibilities offered by natural materials. The adoption of agricultural by-products seems to be promising and in line with the circular economy paradigm. Materials such as hemp and straw have been extensively adopted in contemporary construction, but nevertheless, the potential use of giant reed has not been sufficiently investigated despite being a common infesting plant abundantly available all over the planet. This work focuses on the performances assessment of lime/cement–reeds mixtures as base materials to design a new line of building components (bricks, blocks, panels and loose insulation) that can be used both in new bio-based construction and in existing buildings for energy-efficiency retrofit. The main materials used in the experimental campaign are giant reed by-products, lime, cement and local and recycled aggregates. The evaluation of the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of lime–reed and cement–reed composites are presented. The results of thermal conductivities (between 0.245 and 0.191 W/m K) and mechanical properties (compressive strengths between 0.848 and 1.509 MPa, and flexural strengths between 0.483 and 0.829 MPa) allow meeting the requirements for non-bearing and thermal building blocks. The outcomes show how blocks made with the abovementioned lime–reed mixture have good mechanical performance and thermo-physical behavior when compared to conventional building materials such as hollow clay or hemp blocks with the same thickness.

Compared Environmental Lifecycle Performances of Earth-Based Walls to Drive Building Envelope Design

“…Data concerning conventional building materials, such as lime and lime cement plasters, Porotherm blocks and XPS panels, were taken from the Italian standard UNI 10351:2021 [57]. Lime hemp thermal and physical values were taken from [58,59] and cork ones were taken from [13]. Unstabilized rammed earth and fiber-reinforced rammed earth thermal and physical values refer to a previous work from the authors, i.e., to the URE and to the FSRE mixes described in [46].…”

Hygroscopicity and Morphology of Bio-Based Boards—The Influence of the Formulation

“…Thus, among the investigated innovative possibilities, the use of bio-wastes and bio-resources seems to be a particularly attractive solution. It reduces energy consumption [5], ensures a circular economy, and moderates the problem of waste disposal [6,7]. Furthermore, the use of these types of materials, which do not act as water vapor barriers, can guarantee cultural heritage preservation, namely, vernacular architecture.…”

“…A. donax L., known as giant reed or giant cane, is an herbaceous, perennial, non-food, invasive, and largely available bioresource [35]. It can be found worldwide due to its tolerance to different climates and soil conditions [5]. It has already been employed for construction practices-i.e., in panels, concrete, plasters, and new construction technologies-showing promising mechanical and thermal properties [13].…”

Effect of fiber type and volume fraction on the mechanical properties of structural concrete

“…Using the above physical properties of reed ber, the blocks made from a mixture of cement, lime, and reed ber were tested and compared with conventional building materials such as hollow clay or hemp blocks of the same thickness, and found to have mechanical and thermophysical properties. Not only can it meet the requirements of non-load-bearing secondary structure masonry, but it also has a better effect of heat insulation [4]. Materials such as hemp ber and straw ber are widely used in modern construction, but reed is a common infested plant found everywhere on earth, but its potential use has not been fully studied.…”