Search Results (3)

Due to the high impact of the building sector on the environment, a growing interest focuses on insulating materials able to ensure good thermo-acoustic performance for the building envelope from a sustainable and circular economy perspective. In this context, Moroccan natural gypsum was mixed with local natural waste materials. The thermal and acoustic properties of the samples were measured; they were compared to those of synthetic- and mineral-based gypsum plasters manufactured with the same technique. A Small Hot Box apparatus was used for thermal characterization, whereas acoustic performance was investigated by means of a Kundt’s Tube. Natural and synthetic additives result in a reduction in density and an improvement in thermal performance. Conductivity values in the 0.181–0.238 W/mK range were obtained, depending on the type of natural additive, with respect to 0.275–0.323 W/mK of mineral-based gypsum plasters. The acoustic measurements showed that all the composites have similar performance in terms of acoustic absorption, whereas high transmission loss values were obtained for the natural additives (TL = 35–59 dB). Petiol of Palm and Stipa Tenacissima were found to be materials able to improve both thermal and acoustic properties. Full article

The building sector is one of the largest energy consumers in the world, prompting scientific researchers to find solutions to the problem. The choice of appropriate building materials presents a considerable challenge for improving the thermal comfort of buildings. In this scenario, plaster-based insulating materials have more and more interests and new applications, such as insulating coatings developing the building envelope. Several works are being done to improve energy efficiency in the building sector through the study of building materials with insulation quality and energy savings. In this work, new composite materials, plaster-gypsum with mineral additives are produced and evaluated experimentally to obtain low-cost materials with improved thermo-physical and acoustic properties. The resulting composites are intended for use in building walls. Plaster-gypsum is presented as a high-performance thermal material, and mineral additives are of great importance because of their nature and are environmentally friendly. Measurements of thermal properties are carried and measurements of acoustic properties. The results show that it is possible to improve the thermal and acoustic performance of building material by using plaster as a base material and by incorporating thermal insulators. The thermal conductivity of plaster alone is greater than that of plaster with mineral additives, offer interesting thermal and acoustic performance. By varying the additives, the thermal conductivity changes. Finally, comparing the results, plaster with mineral additives is considered the best building material in this study Full article

Building retrofitting plays a key-role in energy saving and a growing interest is focused on insulating materials that allow a reduction in heat loss from envelopes with low thickness, by a process of reducing heating and cooling demand. In this context, a complete characterization of the physical properties of Moroccan natural gypsum materials was carried out. Basic information on the mineralogical, microstructure, thermal, mechanical, and acoustic characteristics of the rocks sampled from two Moroccan regions is provided. It was found that mineralogy, porosity, and water content are the main factors governing the development of the structure and the strength of the samples. The measured values of the porosity were 8.94%, the water content varied between 2.5–3.0% for the two studied typologies, coming from Agadir and Safi, respectively. Gypsum powder was used for fabricating samples, which were investigated in terms of thermal and acoustic performance. Thermal properties were measured by means of a hot disk apparatus and values of conductivity of 0.18 W/mK and 0.13 W/mK were obtained for Agadir and Safi Gypsum, respectively. The acoustic performance was evaluated in terms of absorption coefficient and sound insulation, measured by means of a Kundt’s Tube (ISO 10534-2). The absorption coefficients were slightly higher than the ones of conventional plasters with similar thickness. A good sound insulation performance was confirmed, especially for Safi Gypsum, with a transmission loss-value up to about 50 dB at high frequency. Full article