Thermal performance of biosourced materials on Buildings: The case of Typha Australis

Abstract

Developing countries are facing population growth, which leads, on the one hand, to increased requirements for buildings and, on the other hand, to the depletion of fossil fuels along with exposure, of people living in those areas, to some detrimental consequences of climate change. Because of these factors, we propose approaches to control energy consumption in buildings. In some countries, the architectures adopted are not adequate to the environment and climate, resulting in discomfort in those buildings, in such circumstances, residents resort to the use of energy systems, such as heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, which leads to exorbitant electricity bills. Housing consumes 40% of the world's energy and is responsible for a third of greenhouse gas emissions. Optimizing energy needs in buildings is a solution to overcome these problems. For this purpose, there are solutions such as: the design of the building characterized by its shape and envelope, while using less energy-consuming equipment. For several years, the building materials sector has been developing with a particular focus on bio-source materials, which are generally materials with good thermal performance. In order to highlight the thermal performance of bio-source materials, we will study the case of Typha Australis which is a plant of the Typhaceae family that grows abundantly in an aquatic environment mainly in the Senegal River valley.Recent studies showed that Typha Australis has good thermal insulation properties. In order to determine the impact of Typha Australis on a building, a dynamic thermal simulation was carried out using the Trnsys software according to specific scenarios, the Typha was mixed with other local materials and used as a wall insulation panel, the result of the study shows that this fiber has allowed us to optimize energy consumption in a building. Mixing Typha with other materials (e. g. clay) is a promising solution for energy efficiency in buildings.