Open Access

ARTICLE

Study of Hygrothermal Behavior of Bio-Sourced Material Treated Ecologically for Improving Thermal Performance of Buildings

Soumia Mounir^1,2,*, Miloudia Slaoui², Youssef Maaloufa^1,2, Fatima Zohra El Wardi^2,3, Yakubu Aminu Dodo^4,5, Sara Ibn-Elhaj², Abdelhamid Khabbazi²

1 National School of Architecture Agadir, New Complex Ibn Zohr Agadir, Hay dakhla, 80 000, Morocco
2 EMDD, CERNE2D, University Mohammed V in Rabat, Est Salé, Salé Medina, Morocco
3 Physics Department, LPMAT Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Ain Chock, Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco
4 Architectural Engineering Department College of Engineering, Najran University, Najran, 66426, Saudi Arabia
5 The Centre of Scientific and Engineering Research, Najran University, Najran, Saudi Arabia

* Corresponding Author: Soumia Mounir. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Renewable Materials and Advanced Technologies for Sustainability)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2024, 12(5), 1007-1027. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2024.049392

Received 05 January 2024; Accepted 11 March 2024; Issue published 17 July 2024

Abstract

Creating sustainable cities is the only way to live in a clean environment, and this problem can be solved by using bio-sourced and recycled materials. For this purpose, the authors contribute to the valuation of sheep wool waste as an eco-friendly material to be used in insulation. The paper investigates the thermal, hygrothermal, and biological aspects of sheep wool by testing a traditional treatment. The biological method of aerobic mesophilic flora has been applied. Fluorescence X was used to determine the chemical composition of the materials used. Also, thermal characterization has been conducted. The thermal conductivity is above 0.046 (W·m·K) and the thermal diffusivity is 1.56.10 m·s. Besides, the energy efficiency of using sheep wool in buildings was studied. Furthermore, its humidity behavior was evaluated in different aspects in both winter and summer. Results of biological analyses show the efficiency of the treatment by removing the majority of the microorganisms: the value of yeast and mildew was reduced from 38.10 to 2.10 (UFC·g). In addition to that, sheep wool permits obtaining a low thermal transmittance on the scale of the walls and low cooling needs on the scale of the building with a gain of 45% and 52%, respectively.

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Keywords

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