A Sustainable Approach to Build Insulated External Timber Frame Walls for Passive Houses Using Natural and Waste Materials

Abstract

This paper presents structures of timber-framed walls designed for passive houses, using natural and waste resources as insulation materials, such as wool, wood fibers, ground paper, reeds (Phragmites communis), and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) wastes. The insulation systems of stud walls composed of wool–ABS composite boards and five types of fillers (wool, ABS, wood fibers, ground paper, and reeds) were investigated to reach U-value requirements for passive houses. The wall structures were designed at a thickness of 175 mm, including gypsum board for internal wall lining and oriented strand board (OSB) for the exterior one. The testing protocol of thermal insulation properties of wall structures simulated conditions for indoor and outdoor temperatures during the winter and summer seasons using HFM-Lambda laboratory equipment. In situ measurements of U-values were determined for the experimental wall structures during winter time, when the temperature differences between outside and inside exceeded 10 °C. The results recorded for the U-values between 0.20 W/m2K and 0.35 W/m2K indicate that the proposed structures are energy-efficient walls for passive houses placed in the temperate-continental areas. The vapour flow rate calculation does not indicate the presence of condensation in the 175 mm thick wall structures, which proves that the selected thermal insulation materials are not prone to degradation due to condensation. The research is aligned to the international trend in civil engineering, oriented to the design and construction of low-energy buildings on the one hand and the use of environmentally friendly or recycled materials on the other.