Development of Lignocellulosic-Based Insulation Materials from Agave fourcroydes and Washingtonia filifera for Use in Sustainable Buildings

Abstract

The objective of this work was to develop two prototypes of insulating materials based on natural plant fibers from Agave fourcroydes and Washingtonia filifera, available in Mexico, for their potential use in buildings. For the development of the prototypes, the raw materials were characterized by physical, chemical, and microstructural methods. The samples were prepared by a pulping process after boiling the fibers in a sodium hydroxide solution. We worked with a Taguchi experimental matrix of four variables in three levels, defining as response variables the sample’s thermal conductivity, density, and flexural strength. The results show that the henequen-based insulation obtained a density of 69.8 kg/m3 and a thermal conductivity of 0.0367 W/mK; on the other hand, the palm-based insulation obtained a density of 45.06 g/cm3 and a thermal conductivity of 0.0409 W/mK, which in both cases are like the conductivity values reported by conventional insulating materials, such as expanded polystyrene or mineral wool, and therefore both optimized prototypes are promising as thermal insulators with a high potential to be used in sustainable buildings in Mexico, reducing the energy consumption of air conditioning and the environmental impact associated with the production of materials.