Exploring the thermal behaviour of building materials: Terracotta, concrete hollow block and hollow brick, under the arid climate, case study of Biskra-Algeria

Abstract

Over time, the need for acceptable indoor thermal environment is inevitable, this need become more alluded in spaces that staying indoor is remarkably more than others (e.g. residential buildings). Also, saving natural resources through adapting the appropriate materials in buildings’ envelopes is an important up-to-date issue. The purpose of this paper is to explore the thermal behaviour of different houses’ envelopes of several materials (terracotta, hollow concrete block and hollow brick walls). In order to understand their performance, three different cases study in Biskra (South of Algeria) have been analysed through in-situ measurements of: outdoor air temperature, external and internal wall radiant temperature. The results show that the terracotta wall has a good thermal behaviour compared to the other walls in term of providing constant and reduced values between external and internal surfaces. This study can be useful for further investigations of classifying materials according to their thermal behaviour and encouraging the use of local materials in hot-dry regions.