Cotterill 2021 IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng. 1058 012023
Cotterill 2021 IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng. 1058 012023
Cotterill 2021 IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng. 1058 012023
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract. Preserving the temperature of the indoor environment within the acceptable limits
during the cold weather using a minimal amount of energy consumption is an important factor
in the modern housing systems and green buildings. Therefore, this study aims to provide eco-
friendly insulation material (organic material). The utlised organic material in this study was
Lignocellusic Biomass (it is also known as Poaceae common reed, and Phragmites australis)
and straw. The insulation efficiency of this organic matter was evaluated via testing its
performance under controlled conditions. The experimental work included three types of
insulation, namely organic insulation (straw and reeds), industrial insulation material
(fiberglass), and bricks (without insulation). The insulation level was monitored using an
infrared camera. The thermal profile was created for each insulation scenario. The results
showed that the efficiency of the organic insulation was similar to the fiberglass; only a 0.84%
difference was noticed between the industrial and the organic insulation materials in terms of
efficiency, which proves that the Lignocellusic Biomass is a potential eco-friendly alternative
for the industrial insulation materials.
1. Introduction
Around the world, many countries have witnessed tremendous development and steadily in various
fields, industrial, agricultural, commercial, and urban [1, 2]. Accompany this development a steady
increase in the number of people, especially in the oil and trade countries. Many villages and cities have
been paved to connect them with each other and to facilitate the transportation process between
countries and cities [3-5]. Moreover, the cities and villages have expanded their borders significantly
as a result of the steady increase in the number of population. Due to this development, the consumption
of various types of goods to and from countries and continents, and it was natural for them to include
many activities that directly affect the surrounding environment, and human health and safety [6-8]. In
recent years, issues relating to environmental issues such as waste accumulation, water pollution [9-
11], and global warming [12-14] are becoming a prominent part of modern life as a result of the overuse
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1058 (2021) 012023 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1058/1/012023
of non-sustainable materials [15-18]. For example, the weather temperature has dramatically increased
around the world [19-21], water pollution dramatically increased [22-25], and water consumption has
also increased to an alarming level [26-28]. Therefore, sustainable recycling processes became an urgent
need to minimise the impact of modern life on both environment and public health. The sustainable
cycles can only be attained if a greater proportion of renewable materials can be recycled or reused such
as lignocellulosic materials. Various studies attempt to tackle these issues by applying novel approaches
in different industrial sectors, such as in water treatment [29-31], wastewater treatment [32-36], waste
management [37], and civil engineering [38-40].
One of the main concerns for the development of sustainable cities is the cement and concrete industry
because the cement industry generates huge amounts of greenhouses gases [41-43], where it has been
proved that the cement industry responsible for about 8% of the total amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere of the Earth planet [44, 45]. In addition, the concrete industry is depleting the natural
resources in an alarming trend [46, 47].
Thus, the construction industry became a major concern for environmental engineers and organisations,
and therefore; significant efforts were done to develop alternatives for the traditional construction
materials (development of green buildings). Green buildings are an area of ongoing research, as this
approach to design is believed to substantially reduce the negative effects of the construction industry
on environmental emissions through the use of highly energy-efficient techniques [48]. Throughout the
world, the massive development in the building industry leads to enlarging the levels of energy
consumption as a result of inoccupation needs, especially in the housing sector. High energy
consumption can cause many problems such as depleting the raw energy sources and environmental
issues which result in the generation of huge quantities of greenhouse gases. Therefore, these problems
arouse the research and the need to improve the efficiency of energy consumption of housing buildings
across the globe. The use of sustainable materials and renewable energy is thus becoming a key factor
in the future of building designs [48]. In this context, the thermal insulation of buildings plays a crucial
role for decrease energy consumption. As well as provide a comfortable indoor environment. Keeping
the residential buildings warming with acceptable limits of temperatures can be attained by using
effective insulation materials. Engineers depended on many treatments that can use thermal insulation
materials in built walls, floors, and roofs to prevent the excessive temperature in summer and loosen
temperature in winter. In addition, use the sunshades, curtains, and aforestation for protection from
excessive thermal radiation. Moreover, utilizing and renewable materials as insulators can support the
sustainability concept. Use of materials that are non-toxic, ethical, and sustainable, lignocellulosic
biomass is one of the oldest building materials that are employed to provide shelter and keep the human
safe and away from the external risks. For instance, wood and straws are still utilized in many areas in
the world. These materials can be easily combined with other types of building materials. Consideration
of the environment in design, construction, and operation, therefore, study the potential methods of
construction that include focusing on low-energy methods taking advantage of sustainable, natural
materials. This will contribute to providing low-energy green buildings, primarily which can be applied
to residential buildings. Using insulation in the building can enhance the energy efficacy of the existing
or new structures. This could be considerably improved through the application of appropriate thermal
insulations [1].
This work aimed to investigate a sustainable construction method by a simulation cavity wall together
with a renewable insulating component using organic materials such as lignocellulosic biomass and
specifically straw that compacted by a simple reed in the process of insolation.
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1058 (2021) 012023 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1058/1/012023
was spread in a compact layer for the study, supported by means of a basic reed frame. On the one side
of the cavity wall was an electronic heat source applied (side:A), the temperatures of the other side of
the cavity wall (side:B) have been monitored using an infrared camera. Different cavity wall systems,
such as the rat-trap bricks bonds have been shown to minimize the consumption of material when used
in building construction. The combination of a similar cavity wall structure with a low-impact,
renewable material of insulation can preserve precious natural resources to improve future building
projects' overall energy efficiency. It should be noted that the above approach is rather simplistic;
considerations such as the exact density of the material and the quality of the moisture are not taken
into account. This research technique is only in order to demonstrate the feasibility of using recycled
insulation materials for potential building projects. The adopted technique to test the efficiency of straw
and reed as thermal insulation materials was a simplistic approach. As discussed previously, uses of
cavity walls have the capability to insert the insulation material inside them (such as the Rat-Trap Bond)
[49]. In this procedure, a simulation part of the cavity wall was employed. The traditional clay bricks
and cement mortar was used to build the cavity wall, which can be observed in the left part of Figure 1.
Figure 1. The simulations of the cavity wall section including the combination of
the organic materials.
The organic insulation parts included compacting straw in a sheet, around 40 mm thick, reinforced back
by reeds which serve as vertical supporters. To facilitate the construction and transportation of the
specimens, the straw layer was covered by a thin layer of cardboard (which had a negligible impact on
thermal performance) as can be seen in the right part of Figure 1. The changes in temperature were
observed over time using a thermal imaging camera after providing an electronic heat source. This
source of heat was mounted behind the cavity wall facing the brick portion. The test with no insulation
was completed at the beginning to provide a basis for testing the effect of the insulation once used. By
the same token, the standard fiberglass insulation layer was provided and then utilised in the cavity wall
and then examined to identify the effectiveness of this type of insulation. The measurement of
temperature degrees was carried out at the same location on the walls (marked on the wall), which was
straightly located in line with the heating source. This procedure for the measurement of the
temperatures at the same location minimized the temperature difference due to external influence in the
laboratory during the performance of the experiments. Moreover, the section of the simulation cavity
wall was supplied by a thermocouple placed on both sides of the cavity wall for accurate measurement
of the temperature difference between the two sides of the cavity wall. Figure 2 offers visual assistance
in the arrangement of the thermocouples positions (A, and B) in relation to the source of heat. A was in
direct contact with the source of the heat side; meanwhile, B was on the opposite side.
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1058 (2021) 012023 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1058/1/012023
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STEPS 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1058 (2021) 012023 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1058/1/012023
insulation case will easily pass the heat through the cavity wall section causing the highest temperature
readings. This means that the best of all three test scenarios is both the maximum measured temperature
and the lowest observed temperatures. The use of no isolation for the first test provided a foundation
for testing the other two insulation materials. It has been found that fiberglass insulation has the lowest
temperature reading of the wall surface (20.3˚C), to the degree predicted; it seems fair that a
homogeneous industry criterion should have the higher performance under the test conditions.
Therefore, fiberglass can be considered as the most effective insulation in terms of thermal insulation
quality. Also, the organic materials showed a high insulation performance, which makes them have the
potential for future application, as the highest measured temperature for the fiberglass was 20.5 oC, this
is just 0.2 oC higher than the maximum detected temperature.
Reviewing Figure 4, it can be found that the difference of temperature between both sides of the cavity
wall faces A and B was the lowest of all insolation scenarios when no insulation was used (65.51˚C).
This result was anticipated and indicates that more heat was transmitted through the system than was
the case when using insolation materials. In the case of adding fiberglass insulation to the wall, the
detected temperature change between the wall sides was 83.63 °C, this was the highest temperature
difference observed; demonstrating that the fiberglass stops most heat loss through the structure of the
wall. By the same token, the addition of the organic insulation to the wall showed a temperature
difference of 79.54 oC between both sides of the wall. Compared to the base case which is not included
an insulator material, using the organic combination material can lead to a valuable improvement in the
thermal insulation properties of the wall structure. It is interesting to note that differences between the
detected temperatures difference approximately near to that one which can be seen when industry-
standard fiberglass was employed.
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1058 (2021) 012023 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1058/1/012023
100
Temperature (oC) 80
60
40
20
0
Fibreglass Organic None
The insulation type
84
Efficiency (%)
82
80
78
76
Fibreglass Organic None
Insulation type
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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 1058 (2021) 012023 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/1058/1/012023
for the interior spaces that intended for human occupancy. This temperature shall be provided with
active or passive space-heating systems.
4. Conclusion
The successful implementation of a number of green building strategies was done utilising the
combination of straw and read as an organic insulation material with cavity wall structures in the manner
as a rat-trap brick on the cavity wall. The obtained data from the experiments showed that the organic
insulation has promising findings as a thermal insulator compared to the industrial insulator (fiberglass).
These findings allow for the potential usage of these organic materials as a renewable material that
supports the intention of moving to a green building. However, further studies are required to apply in
a wide range of possible building approaches to make it applicable and scale-up in the green building
industry and healthy residential environment.
For further researches, sensing systems could be used to monitor and/or control the thermal efficiency
and development of temperature inside the insulation layers.
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