THERMAL PROPERTIES OF AN ADOBE BRICK WALL:
ADAPTING TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUES TO CONTEMPORARY LIVING STANDARDS
1Arch. PhD student,”Politehnica” University Timişoara, Faculty of Architecture, florescu.roxana_arh@yahoo.com
2 Prof. Dr. Arch.,”Politehnica” University Timişoara, Faculty of Architecture, smaranda.bica@upt.ro
*Corresponding author
Abstract
Nowadays, the topic of energy consumption in the field of construction has become a pressing issue in procuring efficient materials and technologies. After introducing the nZEB standards, respectively the passive house concept, it is more and more important to highlight the built-in primary energy factors, namely the amount of energy saved by the use of adequate materials, stratifications and energy-efficient systems. Further discussions then develop into determining the life cycle of materials in order to justify their choice in the detriment of others.
Starting from these debates, earth used as a building material comes in a viable response due to its thermal qualities - it becomes a significant heat reservoir due to the massive walls of this type of construction. These properties recommend it in creating an adequate thermal comfort using eco-friendly resources.
Adobe was one of the earliest building techniques, used mainly in the second period of colonization in the Banat area of Romania. The case study presented in this paper starts from the existing build fund and is followed by the comparative analysis of possible stratifications to solve the thermal comfort inside a new home constructed using the adobe technique as opposed to modern conventional fired bricks.
In the last 30 years in Romania, although European construction regulations have been gradually adopted, the issues of energy efficiency and interior comfort have not been at the attention forefront of either designers or beneficiaries, not to mention the traditional building techniques. That is why the aim was to highlight that by using local traditions with eco-friendly materials even the toughest standards can be achieved concerning passive buildings developed in Germany. The methodological approach was to compare different specific stratifications to collect the primary data in a quantitative computer based simulation procedure.
Keywords: Sustainability, earth constructions, thermal properties, adobe technique, passive house.
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