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Hygrothermal Properties of Raw Earth Materials: A Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Giuffrida Giada

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, 64 Santa Sofia Street, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Rosa Caponetto

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, 64 Santa Sofia Street, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Francesco Nocera

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, 64 Santa Sofia Street, 95125 Catania, Italy)

Abstract

Raw earth historic and contemporary architectures are renowned for their good environmental properties of recyclability and low embodied energy along the production process. Earth massive walls are universally known to be able to regulate indoor thermal and hygroscopic conditions containing energy consumptions, creating comfortable interior spaces with a low carbon footprint. Therefore, earth buildings are de facto green buildings. As a result of this, some earthen technologies have been rediscovered and implemented to be adapted to the contemporary building production sector. Nevertheless, the diffusion of contemporary earthen architecture is decelerated by the lack of broadly accepted standards on its anti-seismic and thermal performance. Indeed, the former issue has been solved using high-tensile materials inside the walls or surface reinforcements on their sides to improve their flexural strength. The latter issue is related to the penalization of earth walls thermal behavior in current regulations, which tent to evaluate only the steady-state performance of building components, neglecting the benefit of heat storage and hygrothermal buffering effect provided by massive and porous envelopes as raw earth ones. In this paper, we show the results of a paper review concerning the hygrothermal performance of earthen materials for contemporary housing: great attention is given to the base materials which are used (inorganic soils, natural fibers, and mineral or recycled aggregates, chemical stabilizers), manufacturing procedures (when described), performed tests and final performances. Different earth techniques (adobe, cob, extruded bricks, rammed earth, compressed earth blocks, light earth) have been considered in order to highlight that earth material can act both as a conductive and insulating meterial depending on how it is implemented, adapting to several climate contests. The paper aims to summarize current progress in the improvement of thermal performance of raw earth traditional mixes, discuss the suitability of existing measurement protocols for hygroscopic and natural materials and provide guidance for further researches.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuffrida Giada & Rosa Caponetto & Francesco Nocera, 2019. "Hygrothermal Properties of Raw Earth Materials: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-21, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:19:p:5342-:d:271364
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Michele La Noce & Alessandro Lo Faro & Gaetano Sciuto, 2021. "Clay-Based Products Sustainable Development: Some Applications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-26, January.
    2. Rosa Caponetto & Massimo Cuomo & Maurizio Detommaso & Giada Giuffrida & Antonio Lo Presti & Francesco Nocera, 2023. "Performance Assessment of Giant Reed-Based Building Components," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Mu, Jun & Yu, Shenwei & Hao, Shimeng, 2023. "Quantitative evaluation of thermal conductivity of earth materials with different particle size distributions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    4. Giada Giuffrida & Maurizio Detommaso & Francesco Nocera & Rosa Caponetto, 2021. "Design Optimisation Strategies for Solid Rammed Earth Walls in Mediterranean Climates," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-23, January.
    5. Francesco Nocera & Rosa Caponetto & Giada Giuffrida & Maurizio Detommaso, 2020. "Energetic Retrofit Strategies for Traditional Sicilian Wine Cellars: A Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-17, June.
    6. Giada Giuffrida & Rosa Caponetto & Francesco Nocera & Massimo Cuomo, 2021. "Prototyping of a Novel Rammed Earth Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Qinglong Gao & Tao Wu & Lei Liu & Yong Yao & Bin Jiang, 2022. "Prediction of Wall and Indoor Hygrothermal Properties of Rammed Earth Folk House in Northwest Sichuan," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-16, March.
    8. Václav Kočí & Jan Kočí & Jiří Maděra & Jaroslav Žák & Robert Černý, 2020. "Computational Prediction of Susceptibility to Biofilms Growth: Two-Dimensional Analysis of Critical Construction Details," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-17, January.
    9. Matteo Vitale & María del Mar Barbero-Barrera & Santi Maria Cascone, 2021. "Thermal, Physical and Mechanical Performance of Orange Peel Boards: A New Recycled Material for Building Application," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.

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