Assessment of thermal performance of different types of masonry bricks used in Saudi Arabia

This paper presents the assessment of thermal performance of nine types of clay brick and two types of concrete brick in use in Saudi Arabia. The results are based on the experimentally measured values of equivalent thermal conductivity. The analysis of the measured data showed that the addition of insulation material either within the masonry brick mix to make the brick more lightweight or through filling insulation material into the holes of masonry bricks increases the thermal resistance significantly. Red clay brick were found more thermally effective than concrete brick. Use of insulating mortar in building walls increases the thermal resistance compared to that of the walls prepared with ordinary concrete mortar. An economic analysis shows that the insulated clay brick (type 7) is the most effective among the types of brick studied as it has the lowest net present value (NPV) of 36.9 $/m(2). The load due to thermal transmission through a building envelope (walls and roof) constitutes an appreciable percent a building's total thermal load. Therefore, long-term studies of the thermal performance of building materials should be conducted to establish thermally optimal brick for usage in building construction in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.