IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v11y2019i20p5592-d275198.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Laboratory and In-Situ Measurements for Thermal and Acoustic Performance of Straw Bales

Author

Listed:
  • Stefano Cascone

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy)

  • Gianpiero Evola

    (Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Antonio Gagliano

    (Department of Electrical, Electronics and Computer Engineering, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, Italy)

  • Gaetano Sciuto

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy)

  • Chiara Baroetto Parisi

    (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Via Santa Sofia 64, 95123 Catania, Italy)

Abstract

This paper investigates the performance of timber-framed walls insulated with straw bales, and compares them with similar walls containing expanded polystyrene (EPS) instead of straw bales. First, thermal conductivity, initial water content, and density of the straw bales were experimentally measured in a laboratory set-up, and the dependence of the thermal conductivity of the dry material on temperature was described. Then, the two insulation solutions were compared by looking at their steady and periodic thermal transmittance, decrement factor, phase shift, internal areal heat capacity and surface mass. Finally, the acoustic performance of both wall typologies was analyzed by means of in situ measurements in two-story buildings built in Southern Italy. The weighted apparent sound reduction index for the partition wall between two houses and the weighted standardized level difference for the façades were assessed based on ISO Standard 16283. The results indicate that the dry straw bales have an average thermal conductivity of k = 0.0573 W/(m·K), and their density is around 80 kg/m 3 . In addition, straw bale walls have good steady thermal performance, but they still lack sufficient thermal inertia, as witnessed by the low phase shift and the high periodic thermal transmittance. Finally, according to the on-site measurements, the results underline that the acoustic performance of the straw bale walls is far better than the walls adopting traditional EPS insulation. Overall, the straw bales investigated are a promising natural and sustainable solution for thermal and sound insulation of buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Cascone & Gianpiero Evola & Antonio Gagliano & Gaetano Sciuto & Chiara Baroetto Parisi, 2019. "Laboratory and In-Situ Measurements for Thermal and Acoustic Performance of Straw Bales," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-19, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5592-:d:275198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5592/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/20/5592/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schiavoni, S. & D׳Alessandro, F. & Bianchi, F. & Asdrubali, F., 2016. "Insulation materials for the building sector: A review and comparative analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 988-1011.
    2. Stefano Cascone & Renata Rapisarda & Dario Cascone, 2019. "Physical Properties of Straw Bales as a Construction Material: A Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-19, June.
    3. Paola Gori & Claudia Guattari & Francesco Asdrubali & Roberto De Lieto Vollaro & Alessio Monti & Davide Ramaccia & Filiberto Bilotti & Alessandro Toscano, 2016. "Sustainable Acoustic Metasurfaces for Sound Control," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-10, January.
    4. Anna Danihelová & Miroslav Němec & Tomáš Gergeľ & Miloš Gejdoš & Janka Gordanová & Patrik Sčensný, 2019. "Usage of Recycled Technical Textiles as Thermal Insulation and an Acoustic Absorber," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-13, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kuo Sun & Chaorong Zheng & Yue Wu & Wenyuan Zhang, 2023. "Experimental Investigation on Thermal Conductivity of Straw Boards Based on the Temperature Control Box—Heat Flux Meter Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-15, July.
    2. Ghadie Tlaiji & Pascal Biwole & Salah Ouldboukhitine & Fabienne Pennec, 2022. "A Mini-Review on Straw Bale Construction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-8, October.
    3. Giuseppe Margani & Gianpiero Evola & Carola Tardo & Edoardo Michele Marino, 2020. "Energy, Seismic, and Architectural Renovation of RC Framed Buildings with Prefabricated Timber Panels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Xunzhi Yin & Jiaqi Yu & Qi Dong & Yongheng Jia & Cheng Sun, 2020. "Energy Sustainability of Rural Residential Buildings with Bio-Based Building Fabric in Northeast China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Luca Fredianelli & Marco Nastasi & Marco Bernardini & Francesco Fidecaro & Gaetano Licitra, 2020. "Pass-by Characterization of Noise Emitted by Different Categories of Seagoing Ships in Ports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-12, February.
    2. Kumar, Dileep & Alam, Morshed & Zou, Patrick X.W. & Sanjayan, Jay G. & Memon, Rizwan Ahmed, 2020. "Comparative analysis of building insulation material properties and performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    3. Benedetti Miriam & Herce Carlos & Sforzini Matteo & Susca Tiziana & Toro Claudia, 2024. "Defining a sustainable supply chain for buildings Off-Site envelope thermal insulation solutions: proposal of a methodology to investigate opportunities based on a context analysis," Logistics, Supply Chain, Sustainability and Global Challenges, Sciendo, vol. 15(s1), pages 38-57.
    4. Jiang, Wei & Jin, Yang & Liu, Gongliang & Li, Qing & Li, Dong, 2023. "Passive nearly zero energy retrofits of rammed earth rural residential buildings based on energy efficiency and cost-effectiveness analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    5. Artur Koper & Karol Prałat & Justyna Ciemnicka & Katarzyna Buczkowska, 2020. "Influence of the Calcination Temperature of Synthetic Gypsum on the Particle Size Distribution and Setting Time of Modified Building Materials," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-23, November.
    6. Marco Nastasi & Luca Fredianelli & Marco Bernardini & Luca Teti & Francesco Fidecaro & Gaetano Licitra, 2020. "Parameters Affecting Noise Emitted by Ships Moving in Port Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-17, October.
    7. Hawks, M.A. & Cho, S., 2024. "Review and analysis of current solutions and trends for zero energy building (ZEB) thermal systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    8. Alejandro Padilla-Rivera & Ben Amor & Pierre Blanchet, 2018. "Evaluating the Link between Low Carbon Reductions Strategies and Its Performance in the Context of Climate Change: A Carbon Footprint of a Wood-Frame Residential Building in Quebec, Canada," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Piccardo, C. & Dodoo, A. & Gustavsson, L. & Tettey, U.Y.A., 2020. "Retrofitting with different building materials: Life-cycle primary energy implications," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    10. Zhang, Xingxing & Lovati, Marco & Vigna, Ilaria & Widén, Joakim & Han, Mengjie & Gal, Csilla & Feng, Tao, 2018. "A review of urban energy systems at building cluster level incorporating renewable-energy-source (RES) envelope solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 230(C), pages 1034-1056.
    11. Rojhat Ibrahim & Sara Elhadad & Bálint Baranyai & Tamás János Katona, 2022. "Impact Assessment of Morphology and Layout of Zones on Refugees’ Affordable Core Shelter Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-16, September.
    12. Claudia Fabiani & Anna Laura Pisello & Marco Barbanera & Luisa F. Cabeza & Franco Cotana, 2019. "Assessing the Potentiality of Animal Fat Based-Bio Phase Change Materials (PCM) for Building Applications: An Innovative Multipurpose Thermal Investigation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, March.
    13. Villasmil, Willy & Fischer, Ludger J. & Worlitschek, Jörg, 2019. "A review and evaluation of thermal insulation materials and methods for thermal energy storage systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 71-84.
    14. Božiček, D. & Peterková, J. & Zach, J. & Košir, M., 2024. "Vacuum insulation panels: An overview of research literature with an emphasis on environmental and economic studies for building applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PA).
    15. Xunzhi Yin & Jiaqi Yu & Qi Dong & Yongheng Jia & Cheng Sun, 2020. "Energy Sustainability of Rural Residential Buildings with Bio-Based Building Fabric in Northeast China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, November.
    16. Taesub Lim & Jaewang Seok & Daeung Danny Kim, 2017. "A Comparative Study of Energy Performance of Fumed Silica Vacuum Insulation Panels in an Apartment Building," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-12, December.
    17. Bryan Dorsey, 2021. "Refocusing on Sustainability: Promoting Straw Bale Building for Government-Assisted, Self-Help Housing Programs in Utah and Abroad," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-18, February.
    18. De Masi, Rosa Francesca & Ruggiero, Silvia & Vanoli, Giuseppe Peter, 2020. "Multi-layered wall with vacuum insulation panels: Results of 5-years in-field monitoring and numerical analysis of aging effect on building consumptions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    19. Ho Baik & Minju Kim & Sang-Heon Lee & Hunhee Cho, 2018. "Simulation Model for Productivity Analysis of External Insulated Precast Concrete Wall System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, January.
    20. Gonçalves, Márcio & Simões, Nuno & Serra, Catarina & Flores-Colen, Inês, 2020. "A review of the challenges posed by the use of vacuum panels in external insulation finishing systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:20:p:5592-:d:275198. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.