Assessment of Bio-Based Composite Building Envelopes for Thermal Inertia and Energy Efficiency

Abstract

Building envelopes are a challenge in enhancing their thermal efficiency as well as minimizing construction impact to increase their sustainability. The research study aims to evaluate the thermal, energy, and environmental analysis capabilities of bio-based composite materials in wall systems, which serve as alternative material barriers to traditional mortar and plaster. The evaluated configurations are a 2 wt.% Ferula communis mortar and 3 plaster-based coating materials with 8 wt.% Ferula communis, 4 wt.% alfa fibers, and 6 wt.% spent coffee grounds. In the case of these solutions, they had been chosen from existing experimental methods for thermo-mechanical studies and were incorporated on several representative wall assemblies. Dynamic simulation with TRNSYS was carried out based on the climate characteristics of Fez (Morocco) under various façade orientations and seasonal variations. The findings demonstrated that bio-based composites, in particular, can efficiently mitigate the summer temperature variations and improve winter thermal stability. This enhanced behavior is also apparent in the lower values of the decrement factor for the components, which indicate increased thermal inertia. These reinforced walls can significantly decrease heating and cooling energy requirements with energy savings compared to older construction of the best design of over 26%, and decrease CO2-equivalent emissions.