Investigations Regarding the Thermal Conductivity of Straw

Abstract

The reduction of buildings heat losses and pollutants emissions is a worldwide priority. It’s intending to reduce the specific final energy consumption under limit of 120...150 kWh/m2.yr and even under 15...45 kWh/m2.yr, foreseen in 2020 for the passive houses, which is necessary for a sustainable development and for allowing to became profitable the use of unconventional energies [1]. These values can be achieved through the use of thermal insulations, for protecting the constructions fund and through making envelope elements, as much as possible, from materials with a high thermal resistance, for new buildings. With intention to substitute the conventional thermal insulations: mineral wool, expanded polystyrene, which are both great energy consumers, it’s proposed, among others unconventional technologies and materials, the use of vegetable wastes both as a thermal insulation material and as a material used for building load-bearing and in-fill straw-bale construction. In speciality literature there are presented experimental determinations of this material’s thermal conductivity. The paper proposes a simple method, adequate for the measurement of thermal conductivity for bulk’s materials as straw bales.

Keywords

• thermal conductivity
• vegetable wastes
• straw bales buildings
• energy efficiency
• sustainable development.