Thermal Insulating Properties of Straw-Filled Environmentally Friendly Building Materials

Abstract

The paper presents results of a research for determination of a few general thermal-physical properties of environmentally friendly building materials made by clay, sand and straw. The aim of this study is to establish their heat insulating and energy-efficient capacity. All specific measurements were carried out by using the newest generation thermal conductivity analyser Mathis TCi.The results showed that the studied composite materials are good thermal insulators with thermal conductivity less than 0.5 W/m.K, which depends on the straw amount. Even less than 0.5 wt.% straw reflects on the insulating properties by decreasing the thermal conductivity coefficient with nearly 50 %.