Climate Chamber Experiment-Based Thermal Analysis and Design Improvement of Traditional Huizhou Masonry Walls

Ling Dong, Hailong Zhou, Hongxian Li, Fei Liu, Hong Zhang and Mohamed Al-Hussein
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Ling Dong: School of Architecture, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
Hailong Zhou: Shandong Tong Yuan Design Group Co., LTD, Jinan 250101, China
Hongxian Li: School of Architecture and Built Environment, Deakin University, Geelong 3220, Australia
Fei Liu: Shandong Tong Yuan Design Group Co., LTD, Jinan 250101, China
Hong Zhang: School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
Mohamed Al-Hussein: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Supported by thousands of years of history, traditional Huizhou buildings have played a vital role, both functionally and culturally, as residential buildings in China. Masonry walls are one of the key building components of a Huizhou building; however, the traditional Huizhou masonry wall structure, predominantly a hollow brick structure, cannot meet the local building energy code requirements, and thus needs to be improved. Within this context, the present research measures the actual thermal performance of traditional Huizhou masonry walls for historical buildings and new-built buildings, which results in mean thermal transmittances of 1.892 W/m 2 ·K and 2.821 W/m 2 ·K, respectively, while the local building energy code requires a minimum thermal transmittance of 1.500 W/m 2 ·K. In order to improve the thermal performance of traditional Huizhou masonry walls, four design scenarios for wall insulation are proposed and tested in a climate chamber: (1) hollow brick wall with inorganic interior insulation mortar, (2) solid brick wall with inorganic interior insulation mortar, (3) hollow brick wall with foamed concrete, and (4) hollow brick wall with foamed concrete plus inorganic interior insulation mortar. The experiment results indicate that, among the four proposed design scenarios, only scenario 4 can significantly improve the thermal performance of Huizhou masonry walls and meet the building energy code requirements, with a mean thermal transmittance of 1.175 W/m 2 ·K. This research lays the foundation for improving the thermal performance of Huizhou masonry walls with new insulation and construction technology, thereby helping to improve the quality of life of Huizhou residents while respecting the cultural significance of the traditional Huizhou building.

Keywords: thermal analysis; Huizhou masonry walls; climate chamber experiment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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