Study of Sawdust and Expanded Polystyrene as Cavity Filler Material on the Effect of Thermal Conductivity in Perforated Clay Brick

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to reduce the amount of external heat penetrating the building wall, hence reducing the cooling load requirements and eventually the electricity consumption. Expanded polystyrene and wood sawdust were chosen as filler material to reduce the thermal conductivity in perforated bricks because both are commonly found waste products with good potential due to their lightweight, low thermal conductivity and high specific heat. It was found that bricks with polystyrene recorded the lowest temperature change. Although sawdust has a much higher thermal conductivity, the temperature change is almost similar to that of polystyrene. This could be attributed by the higher density of wood, which means more mass are occupying the same volume of space. Hence, the paper found that thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity and density of the filler material can influence the effective thermal conductivity of the perforated brick.