Application analysis and environmental impact of straw reinforced gypsum plaster for improving the energy efficiency in buildings in the six climate zones of Morocco

Abstract

This article focuses on improving the energy efficiency of buildings in Morocco, with the aim of with the aim of stimulating of new low-carbon economies regarding to building materials and construction practices. To be more realistic, this work was the subject of a nationwide study in Morocco, developing new local materials based on plaster reinforced with straw. The importance of this work is to propose a solution adapted to the six climatic zones of the country. To achieve our goal, we used several methods to characterize and analyze the composite materials, including observation by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and thermogravimetry. To evaluate the thermal transport properties of the composite materials, we used the Hot Disk method, while their compression strength was evaluated by the compression strength method. A significant decrease of 68% in thermal conductivity and 59.69% in compression strength is observed when adding 4% of straw to the plaster. To answer questions such as: What is the energy demand of each use in a building in Morocco, under different climatic conditions? and What are the interesting returns for the investor and the country? Energy simulations were carried out in the six climatic zones of Morocco using the “Type56a” module of the TRNSYS software. The main conclusion of this work is that the implementation of the proposed solution has led to a 13% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from buildings. Annual costs can be reduced by approximately 13% in Agadir, Tangier, Fes, Ifrane, Marrakech, and Errachidia.