Effect of alternative walling material on indoor temperature

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the effect of an alternative walling element on the indoor temperature through a case study of a slum house. Using locally available biobriquette ash (BFA), cellular lightweight (CLW) bricks were developed and compared with conventional fly ash (FA) bricks. Two double-storey representative models (FA bricks and BFA-CLW bricks) were constructed in Trnsys software to analyse the indoor temperature. The estimated peak temperature reductions for the ground and first floors of the BFA-CLW model are 4·2 and 1·9%, respectively. Reductions in the area under the curve of the BFA-CLW model are 2·6 and 1% (year) and 20 and 9% (summer) for the ground and first floors compared to those of the FA model. The cost comparison for BFA-CLW brickwork showed 28% reduction compared to that for FA brickwork, while the embodied energy of the brickwork is equivalent. The application of the proposed bricks shows advantages over FA brick and, thus, can be adopted for sustainable construction practices.