Thermal Performance of Three Different Strawbale Buildings at the Kerkenes Eco-Center

Abstract

By and large, straw is not considered to be a building material, yet in comparison with traditional materials, building with straw bales is definitely more energy-efficient, eco-friendly, and low-cost; qualities that are desirable in sustainable buildings. This paper presents information on three different straw bales buildings at the Kerkenes Eco-Center, which is located in the village of Sahmuratli in central Anatolia, Turkey. The first of these was constructed with load-bearing straw bale walls; the second with straw bales as infill in a timber-frame structure; while the third utilized straw bales in combination with Autoclave Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks. This last was a hybrid wall construction that has been tried for the first time to take advantage of the thermal-insulation property of straw combined with the humidity-regulating property of mud plaster inside and the weather-resistance property of AAC outside. These three buildings are being monitored for their temperature and humidity variances with the help of data loggers; this data is also presented herein.

Análisis de la perspectiva del usuario con respecto a los edificios con fardos de paja: Un estudio de encuesta

“…The construction process itself is very similar to that of masonry, with the installation of alignment guides and alternating positioning of the bales between one layer and the layer above. built in 1903 (3,17,(19)(20)(21), and according to Pritchard and Pitts (12), "the development of strawbale building technology resulted from the colonization of North America by Europeans and the lack of availability of construction materials for building". However, the first European straw bales building was built only in 1921, by Émile Feuillette, in Montargis, France (17,21), indicating that knowledge migrated from America to Europe.…”

“…However, the first European straw bales building was built only in 1921, by Émile Feuillette, in Montargis, France (17,21), indicating that knowledge migrated from America to Europe. These buildings, still in use, were erected more than a century ago and demystify the image of fragility and instability that the mention of straw as a building material can evoke (19).…”

“…Therefore, there is an incessant search for natural materials that have less embodied energy, such as straw and earth, thus contributing to urban sustainability (17), and according to Adedeji and co-workers ( 7) "one method of building energy-efficient structures is through straw bale construction". Since the material is obtained from renewable sources, it has greenhouse gas emissions close to zero, consumes little energy to maintain thermal stability, is biodegradable and the environmental impact during its use in construction can be considered low (15,16,19,22). Below, some articles that obtained interesting results on the topic are highlighted.…”

Assessment of Energy Saving Potential by Replacing Conventional Materials by Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)—A Case Study of Office Buildings in China

“…THUBERC also reported that the energy consumption in office buildings is approximately 25% of that of the non-domestic building sector in China which is notably higher than ratio for office buildings in the UK and the USA [20]. This is due to the rapid urbanization in China accompanied by a rapid increase in the area of office buildings due to the economic growth.…”

“…In 2015, the operational energy of buildings exceeded 857 million tons of coal equivalent (TCE) which represents 20% of the total energy consumption in China in that year [1]. Building energy consumption increased by a factor of 1.7 in 2014 from the level in China in 2000 [20] and this energy consumption is estimated to increase further and to reach 35% of the total energy consumption in China by 2020 [21].…”