LAUSR

Abstract Outdoor climatic conditions such as sun radiation, air temperature and humidity, wind speed are the main factors that determine the thermal response of free-running buildings. However, the thermal behaviour of buildings can be regulated by a proper choice of suitable materials to maintain thermal comfort for the occupants. Through a validated energy model, this article evaluates the influence of insulation and thermal mass on the envelope of a compressed stabilised earth blocks test cell in a hot and dry tropical climate. The study assesses the impact of these parameters on building thermal performance. The effect of insulation is studied by considering different insulators made of glass wool or straw mixed with lime. The thermal inertia impact has been assessed by varying the wall thickness. The results show that insulation with 0.10 m glass wool thickness and 0.15 m straw mixed with 0.02 m lime have very close thermal performance. The study also shows that the appropriate wall thickness for adequate thermal comfort depends on the building insulation state. Without insulation, the wall thicknesses of 0.22 m and 0.35 m showed the best thermal performance. The corresponding decrement factors were respectively 30% and 17%. An insulated wall thickness of 0.14 m was the optimal choice because this choice lowered outdoor temperature amplitude to 22% and was more resource efficient.