APPLICATION OF SMALL-SCALE EXPERIMENTAL MODELS FOR THERMAL COMFORT ASSESSMENT OF SUSTAINABLE BUILDING MATERIALS

Accumulation of unmanaged industrial solid waste, especially in developing countries has resulted in an increased environmental concern. In view of utilization of industrial solid waste the recycled paper mill waste (RPMW) – cement composite bricks were designed and developed. In order to investigate the environmental performance of sustainable construction materials two small scale model houses were designed and developed with waste-create (RPMW – cement) bricks and commercially available fly ash bricks as per the standards. In order to assess the thermal comfort for the considered sustainable building materials the temperature inside the model houses were monitored over the study location for the period of a year. The economic viability for the developed model houses was also analyzed. The recorded south facade exposed wall surface temperature readings for the developed small-scale model houses were used to estimate the thermal conduction of wall assembly. The detailed analysis revealed that the developed waste-create brick model house was more thermally comfortable and economical than fly ash brick model house. The better thermal performance capacity of the waste-create brick model house can drive the construction of energy efficient building so as to minimize energy consumption through the reduction of the thermal load of the built environment. The developed low cost sustainable construction material enhances the practical feasibility of the product as well.