Thermal performance of aerated concrete block

Abstract

The ever-increasing demand for housing and other types of buildings results in heavy utilization of construction materials. Such a growing demand causes an over-exploitation of natural resources in the material manufacturing process. Therefore, various researchers have attempted to develop alternative building materials. Aerated concrete block (ACB) is one such alternative, that could be used as a walling material. Although the strength and durability properties of ACB were established, the building performance of this alternative walling material has not been studied in detail. The research presented in this paper covers an assessment of thermal performance of a wall constructed with ACB and compared that with a reference conventional material which is Cement sand block (CSB). The research is based on an experimental programme carried out with physical models constructed out of ACB and CSB. The thermal performance of physical models was monitored over a period. With the aim of extending the results to a wider range of applications, a computer simulation was carried out and validated with the experimental results. The thermal performance of ACB was found to be better with an indoor temperature reduction in the range of 4C during the peak temperature zone than the conventional CSB. Better thermal performance will result in a saving in the operational energy of a building constructed with ACB and hence improving sustainability.