Comparison in Thermal Conductivity of Hollow Concrete blocks filled with Straw Bales & Tyre Waste

The thermal conductivity of straw bales is an intensively discussed topic in the international straw bale community. Straw bales are, by nature, highly heterogeneous and porous. They can have a relatively large range of density and the baling process can influence the way the fibers are organized within the bale. In addition, straw bales have a larger thickness than most of the insulating materials that can be found in the building industry. Measurement apparatus is usually not designed for such thicknesses, and most of the thermal conductivity values that can be found in the literature are defined based on samples in which the straw bales are resized. During this operation, the orientation of the fibers and the density may not be preserved. This paper starts with a literature review of straw bale thermal conductivity measurements and presents a measuring campaign performed with a specific Guarded Hot Plate, designed to measure samples up to 40 cm thick. The influence of the density is discussed thoroughly. Representative values are proposed for a large range of straw bales to support straw-bale development in the building industry

This paper comprises the tests performed to determine the thermal conductivity of hollow concrete blocks using straw bales filled in hollow concrete block. The purpose of this study is to examine the possibility of using straw bales in hollow concrete block. The straw bales were used to make concrete block in the masonry units.

This study examines the thermal behavior of concrete construction elements (bricks, slabs) made filled with different amounts of straw bales particles (80%, 70% and 60%)  according with different thickness of concrete. Once the bricks, slabs were obtained, three different closed test cells were built and subjected to several heating/cooling periods. By recording the temperature difference between inside and outside the wall of concrete block, it was found that the thermal behavior depend on the filling percentage of tyre waste particles. This study is based on the human and atmospheric comfort in building structures in different environment conditions