Effect of building materials on temperature evolution inside the premises in Algeria

Abstract

The building sector is partially in charge of the exhaustion of conventional energy sources, global warming, and environmental pollution. This experimental investigation is devoted to the study of the thermal behaviourof three different building materials used in Algeria, namely sheep wool, traditional brick, and ordinary brick, under real conditions. Three identical chambers were built made of the above-citedmaterials. Three temperature sensors were placed in the center of the three chambers, which were aligned and separated by approximately 10 cm. The digital acquisition system based on the Arduino board allows us to measure and record temperatures in the middle of the three well-closed rooms for one day (day and night) by one-minute steps. The temperature of the ambient air (outdoor temperature),used as areference, wastaken too. It is found that the thermo-physical properties (thermal diffusivity) of the building materials, in addition to the thickness of the building envelope (walls and roof), play an important role in the heat exchangebetween the indoor and outdoor. This study aims to encourage the reuse of the traditional bricks seen their advantages in energy saving and environmental preservation.