Thermal performance and characterization of a sawdust-clay composite material

In most research, scientists have been interested in the mechanical impact of sawdust on adobe bricks, mainly compressive strength. This present paper is devoted to the characterization of the thermal transport properties of clay-sawdust materials. To evaluate the thermal impact of sawdust on earthen building envelopes, clayey composites with different sawdust percentage additions were developed. The results show that sawdust positively affects the thermal properties of earthen blocks. Indeed, adding 10% of sawdust decreases the thermal conductivity of composites of 30% and improves the thermal resistance of earthen building envelopes of 31%, while reducing their density. Sawdust can therefore be used in smart lightweight brick manufacturing. The experimental results were used to analyze the thermodynamic behaviors of a residential building using Energy-Plus software. Findings results demonstrate that clay-sawdust composites can reduce the energy consumption of conventional and traditional residential buildings by 21% and 5.3%, respectively.