In situ experimentation of thermal performance in masonry modules built with ceramic block using passive cooling patterns

Abstract

The results of the comparative evaluation of the thermal behavior of two ceramic masonry construction systems are presented based on experimental modules built at a scale of 1:1 under real conditions of hot climate in the city of Cúcuta, Colombia, at latitude 7.9°N, longitude 72.5°W and altitude 298 meters above sea level. Module (A) of dimensions 1300mm high and 1690mm long built entirely in traditional masonry in its four vertical faces using H10 ceramic block is taken as a demonstrator of conventional construction pattern, and Module (B), which maintains the same height of 1300mm and is 1790mm long, is built as an experimental demonstrator manufactured with an innovative masonry system that uses a mixture of H15 and H10 ceramic blocks, applying passive cooling variables with techniques of increased thickness, heat dissipation by air chamber and solar control by shading, as passive strategies to reduce thermal transmittance; each module is insulated on the lower and upper horizontal faces of the enclosure considering only the heat transfer through the vertical masonry, the experiment is built within the facilities of the campus of the Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander, located without any type of natural or constructed obstruction for temperature and humidity data collection with an exterior monitoring system that records the climatic conditions to which the experiment is exposed and sensors in the interior walls that record the interior temperature and humidity of each enclosure with Data Loggers EASYLOG USB recorder for a period of 8 days. The results allow comparing the thermal performance of both systems and proving the efficiency of SYSTEM 04-B as a passive cooling construction pattern that allows a 4°C reduction in the final temperature transferred with respect to a conventional construction system.