Civil and Architectural Engineering Department-College of Engineering-Sultan Qaboos University
Thermal Performance of Light Weight and Insulated Concrete Blocks in Omani
Environment
Mohammed A. El-Tayeb
Abstract
The thermal comfort in residential buildings is greatly influenced by the outside climatic
conditions. By reason of harsh climate of Sultanate of Oman, residential buildings consume a
considerable amount of energy. Most of this energy is consumed by the air-conditioning systems
which are used to eliminate the extensive amount of heat gained due to poor thermal insulation of
building envelope. Utilization of thermal mass in residential buildings can be one of the most
effective ways of reducing building heating and cooling loads. Such savings can be achieved in
the design stage of buildings on relatively low-cost basis. Moreover, such reductions in building
envelope heat losses combined with optimizing material configuration and using of a proper
thermal insulation in the building envelope will help to reduce the building cooling and heating
energy demands.
The objectives of this research are to evaluate the thermal performance of three rooms made of
different concrete blocks. Two of them are already used in Omani building (normal and insulated
concrete blocks) and the third one is recently constructed by Sultan Qaboos University laboratory
(Light Weight concrete block). An extensive experimental measurement has been conducted for
six month measuring indoor and outdoor temperature. Seek out of measuring the outside surface
and inside temperature a number of thermocouples are fixed on the inside and the outside of each
wall and these thermocouples are connected to a computer to record temperature readings each
half an hour for a period of six months from February to July 2004.
Heat Energy Efficient Design Software (HEED) had been used to evaluate the thermal
performance of the three types of concrete blocks by generating three different models. Each
model consisting of one room as the model room and the other two rooms as neighbors in order to
get the same effect of sun and shading directions. Moreover, a simulation for the whole year was
conducted. The results show that the insulated concrete block has highest thermal performance
followed by light weight concrete block and finally the normal concrete block.