Climatic materials

Berge, Bjørn; Butters, Chris; Henley, Filip

doi:10.1016/b978-1-85617-537-1.00014-7

Cited by 5 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…buffering (Berge 2009), that is, it moderates changes in RH by absorbing moisture from the surrounding air and, when the air is less humid, giving off absorbed moisture. In one of the days, indoor humidity suddenly raised from around 50% to around 70% (kitchen) and 75% (bedroom) (Figure 10).…”

Section: Analysis Of the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Portuguese vernacular architecture: the contribution of vernacular materials and design approaches for sustainable construction

Fernandes

Mateus

Bragança

et al. 2014

Architectural Science Review

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Vernacular architecture is characterized by a type of formal expression, which has been developed in response to a number of factors -geographic, climatic and economic -characterizing the local area or region. Despite the fact that Portugal is a small country, there are many different architectural approaches and a range of techniques have been employed in different regions to mitigate the effects of climate. These vernacular approaches have the potential for further development and could be adapted in response to contemporary needs. In this paper, a range of different passive solar techniques used in Portuguese vernacular architecture to provide comfort is presented. The specific focus is on the effectiveness of passive cooling strategies (namely, high thermal inertia, use of light colours and courtyards), and the findings of a case study in which the thermal performance during the summer of a vernacular residential building located in the south of Portugal are presented.

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Section: Analysis Of the Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Portuguese vernacular architecture: the contribution of vernacular materials and design approaches for sustainable construction

Fernandes

Mateus

Bragança

et al. 2014

Architectural Science Review

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“…Regarding the U-value, the adobe construction performs better than the rammed earth one. That is due to the air bubbles inside these type of adobe bricks, while rammed earth is more compressed and compact (Berge 2009). These different characteristics show that each building system suits best the specific micro-climate.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Regarding relative humidity, the difference between indoor (more stable) and outdoor relative humidity values is due to the hygroscopic inertia of the building systems, namely the rammed-earth or adobe walls and the lime plaster, among others, that have the capacity to regulate air humidity (Berge 2009), i.e., absorbing humidity when moisture is excessive and releasing it when the air is too dry. This property of the materials allows a natural regulation of humidity levels, without requiring any equipment, providing a healthy and comfortable indoor environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vernacular earthen architecture and its restoration in the region of La Manchuela in Albacete (Spain)

Fernandes¹,

Dabaieh²,

Mateus³

et al. 2017

Vernacular and Earthen Architecture: Conservation and Sustainability

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Despite the far distance between Portugal and Egypt, it was possible to find points of similarity on the influence of Roman and Arab cultures, and on solar passive and construction techniques used in vernacular architecture. Earthen construction techniques are one of these examples, being used in both countries for thousands of years. Through an explanatory qualitative and quantitative analysis, this paper presents an overview of the effects of climate-responsive strategies on thermal performance and indoor comfort of earthen architecture from Northern Egypt and Southern Portugal. To understand the effectiveness of these strategies, measurements of hygrothermal parameters and surveys on occupants' thermal sensation were conducted in two case studies. From the results, it has been found that the case studies have shown a good thermal performance only by passive means and that the occupants expressed as being comfortable. Thus, vernacular passive strategies still can contribute to achieve indoor comfort conditions and reduce the dependency on mechanical systems.

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“…The building industry is one of the largest sectors of worlds' economy, and one of the largest consumers of energy and raw materials/natural resources (Berge, 2009;Morel et al, 2001). Most of this problem is because the majority of the industrialised building materials that are used today have considerable environmental impacts in their production stage (Cabeza et al, 2013;J Fernandes et al, 2013;Wadel et al, 2010).…”

Section: Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This assessment is complex, being difficult to describe all the impacts that result from all the life cycle stages (Cabeza et al, 2013;Sassi, 2006) and results cannot be directly extrapolated for specific local contexts (Wadel et al, 2010), mainly when products come from a remote source. Nevertheless, this information is essential to identify the materials that really have low embodied environmental impacts from those that only claim to be "green" and "eco" (Berge, 2009).…”

Section: Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Life cycle analysis of environmental impacts of earthen materials in the Portuguese context: Rammed earth and compressed earth blocks

Fernandes

Peixoto

Mateus

et al. 2019

Journal of Cleaner Production

112

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Keywords:Vernacular architecture Life-cycle assessment Environmental impacts Rammed earth Compressed earth block (CEB) Earthen architecture a b s t r a c tIn the Portuguese context, the life cycle assessment of building materials is still in its infancy. So far, there is only a small number of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) available, all target for industriallybased materials. Although vernacular earthen materials are seen as ecological materials, with low potential environmental impacts, there are no studies that allow to quantitatively compare these materials with conventional ones, according to the applicable standards. In the case of Portugal, there are no EPDs or studies for these materials and the studies available worldwide are hard to compare, since they not follow the same life-cycle assessment methodology. This paper aims at contributing to a better understanding about the environmental performance of earthen materials by presenting results from the life cycle assessment of Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) and Rammed earth, based on specific life cycle inventory values obtained from a producer company, following the guidance provided by the standard EN15804. Among other conclusions, results show that CEB and Rammed earth have a total Embodied Energy of 3.94 MJ/block and 596 MJ/1 m 3 and a Global Warming Potential of 0.39 kg CO 2 eq/block and 47.5 kg CO 2 eq./1 m 3 , respectively. In a cradle-to-gate analysis of different walls, the use of earthen building elements can result in reducing the potential environmental impacts in about 50%, when compared to the use of conventional ones. Additionally, the advantages of using earthen materials are also discussed for the different building life-cycle stages, focusing on the possibility to recycle these materials in a closed-loop approach.

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Climatic materials

Cited by 5 publications

References 5 publications

Portuguese vernacular architecture: the contribution of vernacular materials and design approaches for sustainable construction

Portuguese vernacular architecture: the contribution of vernacular materials and design approaches for sustainable construction

Vernacular earthen architecture and its restoration in the region of La Manchuela in Albacete (Spain)

Life cycle analysis of environmental impacts of earthen materials in the Portuguese context: Rammed earth and compressed earth blocks

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