Monitoring of a Hemp Lime External Building Insulation

Georges Costantine,Tala Moussa,Guillaume Polidori,Chadi Maalouf,S.I Tanabe,I Nastase,C Inard,L Mazzarela,H Zhang,J Kurnitski,P Wargocki,M.C Gameiro Da Silva,G Cao

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/201911103046

Abstract

In a context of promoting energy efficiency, building sector has undergone a notable evolution towards innovative construction insulation materials such as hemp concrete, in order to reduce buildings energy bills and environmental impact. Hemp-Concrete finds application as internal or external thermal insulator in wooden frame walls. In that context, a French building in Grand-Est region, employing Hemp-Concrete as an external insulator is selected and studied. An apartment is monitored for several months. Indoor temperatures, and relative humidities as well as external weather conditions are measured using sensors installed inside the apartment and a weather station placed at the building roof. Indoor comfort analysis shows satisfactory results according to ASHREA standards. Experimental approach is then coupled with a numerical validation at room scale using SPARK simulation tool. Investigations are conducted on indoor office air temperature and relative humidity. Results show a good agreement between numerical values and experimental measurements.

Highlights

From the “Grenelle de l’environnement” [1] in 2007 to the “COP21” in 2015, environmental concerns in France to preserve global resources have largely contributed to recognize bio-based materials as potential natural resources to exploit
Outdoor weather conditions are covered by a weather station placed at building roof
A weather station fixed on the building roof records data relating to the outside climate

Summary

Introduction

From the “Grenelle de l’environnement” [1] in 2007 to the “COP21” in 2015, environmental concerns in France to preserve global resources have largely contributed to recognize bio-based materials as potential natural resources to exploit. The results of numerous research studies in this respect have proved their reliability and advantages in several fields: chemical industry, agriculture, transport, packaging, as well as in construction [2]. In this context, hemp concrete have become widespread in construction field. While literature presents numerous studies of hemp concrete on the intrinsic material [3][4] and wall scales [5][6][7][8], its hygrothermal behaviour at building scale and for long duration is always less studied [9][10][11]. Numerical outputs are able to predict experimental data while paying particular attention to room occupancy scenario and convective exchange coefficients between the walls and indoor ambiance

Experimental approach

Apartment monitoring

Heat losses analysis

Numerical modelling at room scale

Findings

Conclusion