Optimization of the thermal performance of compressed earth block wall for affordable housing

Abstract

Lack of appropriate social housing is a great challenge in most developing countries. Afghanistan is one of them, where in the capital, Kabul, population growth very rapidly, resulted in a high demand for affordable social housing, and construction of illegal houses and private modern townships. This has dramatically changed the form of the housing and view of the city [5]. One of the solutions to overcome this high housing demand is to use the local material that has been used traditionally for years in Kabul. It is environmentally friendly and easily available on construction site. In previous paper, three soils of the Kabul region were studied and the best earthen element was selected [5]. In this paper an architectural model from the selected element that should be responsive for Kabul climate, will be developed and analysed. According to Köppen climate classification, Kabul has cold desert climate, with dry cold winter and dry warm summer. This study, optimize design strategy for social housing program in Kabul city.  Compressive earth block (CEB) walls in various thickness (100-1000) mm designed and thermally analysed to find the optimum wall thickness. Soil-straw plaster applied to protect the CEB wall from rain. Auto desk (Revit and Archiwizard) and WUFI pro softwares are used to optimize wall thickness and validate energy demand and thermal performance of the model. This research paper will enable the architects and builders to practically design earth buildings and optimize earthen wall’s thickness.