Accepted Manuscript

Title: Hygrothermal properties of earth bricks

Author: H. Cagnon J.E. Aubert M. Coutand C. Magniont

PII: S0378-7788(14)00416-2
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.05.024
Reference: ENB 5060

To appear in: ENB

Received date: 22-1-2014

Revised date: 28-4-2014
Accepted date: 5-5-2014

Please cite this article as: H. Cagnon, J.E. Aubert, M. Coutand, C. Magniont,
Hygrothermal properties of earth bricks, Energy and Buildings (2014),
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.05.024

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*Highlights (for review)

Highlights
The hygrothermal properties of five earth bricks were measured using two methods
The values obtained on the five bricks were very close to each other
Earth bricks are able to regulate the relative humidity of indoor air
They can improve the thermal behaviour of buildings due to their high thermal inertia

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*Manuscript

Hygrothermal properties of earth bricks

H. Cagnon, J.E. Aubert*, M. Coutand, C. Magniont

Université de Toulouse; UPS, INSA; LMDC (Laboratoire Matériaux et Durabilité des

Constructions), 135 avenue de Rangueil, F-31 077 Toulouse cedex 4, France

Abstract
The comfort of the occupants and the quality of indoor air are becoming important parameters

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in the selection of building materials for use inside buildings. Earth is a material that seems to

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meet all the requirements, essentially because of its low environmental impact and its strong
hygroscopic properties, as observed in historic earth constructions. The work presented in this

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paper aimed to measure the hygrothermal properties of five extruded earth bricks produced at
five brickworks in the neighbourhood of Toulouse in southern France. The hygrothermal
properties studied were vapour sorption isotherms, water vapour permeability, heat capacity,

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moisture-dependent thermal conductivity and effusivity. The mineralogical characterization of
the five earth bricks showed differences in the nature of the clay: the clay minerals contained
in bricks 1 to 4 were montmorillonite, chlorite and illite whereas the only clay mineral
contained in brick 5 was kaolinite. Despite this difference, the hygrothermal characteristics
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measured were very close in all five bricks and often close to the few data existing in the
literature on earthen materials. The hygrothermal properties of the five earth bricks confirmed
their capacity to regulate the relative humidity of indoor air.
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Keywords: earth bricks, hygrothermal properties, thermal conductivity, vapour permeability,
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sorption isotherm
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*Corresponding author. Tel. 0033 (0)5 61 55 66 97 Fax: 0033 (0)5 61 55 99 49;

e-mail: jean-emmanuel.aubert@univ-tlse3.fr

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1. Introduction
The impact of buildings on the environment is so great that construction techniques have been
evolving significantly for several years. In France, for example, residential and commercial
buildings were responsible for 44% of the final energy consumption in the country in 2011
according to the French ministry of ecology [1], sustainable development and energy. Several
solutions have been implemented to reduce the impact of buildings on energy consumption
and, more generally, on the environment. They include the use of materials that have little
environmental impact and are more efficient from a thermal point of view. Along with these
environmental concerns, occupant comfort and indoor air quality are also becoming important
parameters in the selection of building materials for use inside buildings. Used since the birth

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of humanity as a natural building material alongside wood, earth is a material that seems to

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meet all the above requirements. In advanced economies, earth construction was abandoned in
favour of concrete for several decades after the Second World War but, nowadays, earth is

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again becoming attractive. The advantages of this material with respect to the new
requirements outlined above are clear: the resource is available in large quantities, the energy
required to extract, transform and produce materials in earth is extremely low and it is a

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totally recyclable material (in the case of earth bricks that are not chemically stabilized). In
addition to these advantages, the main interest of this material certainly lies in the high
thermal inertia that can be obtained, which could improve the comfort and thermal behaviour
of continuously heated buildings [3], and in its strong hygroscopic properties, as observed in
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earth constructions left to us by previous generations. Transfers of moisture between air and
earthen walls have two direct consequences for indoor air. Firstly, the earthen walls can
regulate the relative humidity inside the building and the damping of humidity variation in
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buildings helps to increase indoor comfort. Secondly, according to the people living in
earthen buildings, evaporation of the water contained within the earthen walls has a cooling
effect in hot weather, so earth walls become natural air conditioners. While there are many
studies on the mechanical properties of earthen materials (22 references (non-exhaustive list))
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[4], not so many scientific studies have been published on the hygrothermal properties of
these materials.

Among such studies, figures the work of Hall and Allinson on the hygrothermal behaviour of
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stabilized rammed earth, which is presented in three publications. The first deals with the
effects of soil grading on the moisture-content-dependent thermal conductivity of stabilized
rammed earth materials [5] and the second is more dedicated to the hygrothermal functional
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properties of stabilized rammed earth materials [6]. A third paper presents the results of a
study on the hygrothermal properties of a stabilized rammed earth test building in the UK [7].
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Meukam and al. [8] worked on the thermophysical and mechanical characterization of
stabilized clay bricks in 2003 and, more recently (2010), Oti et al. [9] characterized stabilized
unfired clay bricks, in particular from the thermal point of view. Goodhew and Griffiths [10]
also worked on the thermal properties of earth walls. They measured the thermal conductivity
and diffusivity of unfired clay bricks, a straw-clay mixture and straw bales using a thermal
probe technique, with an iterative method for data analysis. Parra-Saldivar and Batty [11]
presented results on the thermal behaviour of adobe constructions computed using dynamic
thermal simulation software with synthetic weather data reproducing the climatic conditions
of three regions at different latitudes in Mexico.

Some other studies have dealt with the hygrothermal properties of earth construction
materials. For example, Tang and al. [12] studied the thermal conductivity of compacted
bentonites and Liuzzi and al. [13] worked on the hygrothermal behaviour and moisture

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buffering effect of unfired, hydrated lime-stabilized clay composites in a Mediterranean
climate. The latter publication is very interesting because the authors studied numerous
hygrothermal properties: moisture-dependent thermal conductivity, moisture-dependent heat
capacity, vapour sorption and water vapour permeability.

It is noteworthy that very few studies have investigated the hygrothermal properties of
unstabilized earthen materials and, in particular, earth bricks. Moreover, such papers have
essentially considered thermal properties and few have dealt with the hygrothermal aspect.
Finally, in the last decade, numerous publications have studied rammed earth or compressed
earth blocks but few report work on extruded bricks [14-17]. However, this manufacturing

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technique has some significant advantages: the extrusion process is very fast and permits large

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quantities of homogeneous (density, form and size) bricks to be produced.

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The work presented in this paper aimed to measure the hygrothermal properties of five
extruded earth bricks produced at five brickworks in the neighbourhood of Toulouse in
southern France. The particular properties studied were vapour sorption isotherms, water

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vapour permeability, heat capacity, moisture-dependent thermal conductivity and effusivity.
Except for the water vapour permeability (cup method), two different experimental methods
were used for the measurement of each of these properties.

2. Materials and procedures an

2.1 Materials
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The five earth bricks under study came from five brickworks in the neighbourhood of
Toulouse in southern France (Fig.1).

These brickworks produced fired bricks and unfired earth bricks having different
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compositions, especially for the proportions of clay and sand in the mixtures. As shown in
Fig. 1, all the brickworks were in the same area except for brickworks 5. The clayey soils of
pits 1 to 4 had the same overall characteristics. Field studies and geological maps (not
presented here) revealed that these soils were almost entirely silty clay with a few layers of
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marl and sandy lenses. The tints of these four soils were nearly the same. Clayey soil 5 was
different from the other four because pit number 5 was on red clay ground.
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The techniques for manufacturing bricks were the same in all the brickworks except for
brickworks 4. For all brickworks, the soil, mixed with water to approximately its plastic limit,
was placed in a vacuum extruder. In brickworks 1, 2, 3 and 5, the soil was pushed through a
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machined die by a rotating auger, producing a stiff column of clay that was subsequently cut
into single bricks. In brickworks 4, the bricks were made differently. After the vacuum
extruder, the earth was pressed into moulds by a large specific rotating auger. The surfaces of
the moulds were covered with sand so that the bricks could be demoulded immediately,
before their desiccation.
The dimensions of the bricks are summarized in Table 1.

To avoid having to cut dry samples in the earth bricks for the various tests, samples of
different shapes were directly prepared in the brickworks at the outlet of the extruder, when
the stiff columns of clay were still in a plastic state and thus easier to form into specific
shapes. Different types of samples were prepared for the study: 10x10x2 cm3 for testing water
vapour permeability, 15x15x5 cm3 for measuring the thermal conductivity using the guarded
hot plate method, 60x40x20 mm3 for measuring effusivity and thermal conductivity using an

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asymmetric hot plate method (Desprotherm) and 60x40x5 mm3 for measuring heat capacity,
also by an asymmetric hot plate method (Desprotherm).

2.2 Procedures
2.2.1 Physical, chemical and mineralogical characterization
The size distribution of the mixtures was analysed using two techniques: the coarser fraction
(>80 µm) was analysed by sieving and the finer fraction by means of pipette analysis
according to standard NF P 94-057 (method based on the measurement of the sedimentation
time of solid particles in suspension in a solution of water mixed with sodium
hexametaphosphate as a deflocculating agent) [18].

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The apparent dry density was measured on specimens used for sorption isotherms (60x40x20

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mm3) dried to constant weight in an oven at 50°C (about 7% RH, steady state when Δm(t, t+24)
< 0.1%). The dimensions of the specimens were measured using a calliper.

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The crystalline phases were identified by means of a Siemens D5000 powder X-ray
diffractometer equipped with a monochromator using a Ka ( = 1.789 Å) cobalt anticathode.

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The specific characterization of the clayey minerals was carried out on oriented aggregates
using three preparations: air-dried or natural, after glycolation and after heat treatment at
500°C [19].

2.2.2 Sorption - desorption isotherms

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Two methods were used to measure sorption-desorption isotherms: the method of saturated
salt solutions and the Dynamic Vapour Sorption (DVS) method.
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i) Method of saturated salt solutions
For the method of saturated salt solutions, the sorption and desorption isotherms were
determined according to the requirements of standard NF EN ISO 12571 [20]. The specimens
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used were 60x40x20 mm3 in order to allow effusivity measurement using the Desprotherm
apparatus (see section 2.2.4). Before testing, the specimens to be subjected to sorption were
kept at constant weight in an oven at 50°C (about 7% RH, steady state when Δm(t, t+24)<0.1%).
Five RH were used for the test: 7%, 33%, 50%, 76% and 97%. They were obtained using
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saturated salt solutions [21]. The various solutions and the corresponding specimens were
then stored in airtight boxes placed in a controlled test chamber at 20°C ± 1°C. Afterwards,
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the samples were weighed periodically until the difference between two consecutive
measurements 24 h apart was less than 0.1%.

ii) Dynamic Vapour Sorption method

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Another method was used to characterize the complete adsorption and desorption isotherms:
the Dynamic Vapour Sorption method (DVS). The five samples of earth brick (approximately
1x1x0.5 cm3 (100 mg)) were placed on one side of a microbalance (DVS2 from SMS Ltd,
UK). The upper limit of the microbalance was 10 grams. This device allowed the temperature
and humidity to be controlled around the sample, which was placed in a basket hanging on the
weighing system (Figure 2).

The weight of the sample was measured at regular time intervals. The temperature was kept
constant at 20°C throughout the test and the relative humidity changed in successive stages
from 0 to 95% in steps of 10% (final step of 5%). Before the test, the sample was dried using
dry N2 gas. Measurements of the mass gave the evolution of the water content of each sample
for each relative humidity step. For each step, the moisture balance was considered to have

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been attained if the evolution of the mass of the sample did not exceed 0.0005% per minute.
Figure 3 shows an example of the sorption-desorption cycle of an earth brick at 20°C.

2.2.3 Vapour diffusion: cup method

The vapour diffusion measurement was carried out as specified in standard NF EN ISO 12572
[22]. Particularly in the construction field, this parameter is also called vapour permeability.
The test involved sealing the sample, of thickness th, above a test cup containing saline
solution in such a way as to have either a ―dry cup‖ or ―wet cup‖ (Figure 4). The whole
system was placed in a temperature and humidity controlled climatic chamber so that the
material was between two environments with different vapour partial pressures, p v1 outside

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the cup and pv2 inside. A layer of air was present inside the cup.

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Due to the partial vapour pressure gradient between the inner part of the cup and the climatic
chamber, a flow of water vapour caused the mass of the cup to vary (mass uptake for test with
―dry cup‖ and mass loss for ―wet cup‖). Periodic weighing of the assembly allowed the mass

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density of mass flux Jv to be found when the steady state was reached.

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Operating conditions
Usually, the specimens and the cups used for this method are cylindrical.
It is very difficult to properly core cylinders in an earth brick without using water during the
coring. Thus, the experimental device was modified to work on 10x10x2 cm3 prismatic
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samples (Figure 4). Three samples were tested for each condition (wet or dry cup). The seal
between the sample and the box was achieved using a mixture of paraffin (40%) and beeswax
(60%) (Figure 4). Before the test, the samples were dried in an oven at 50°C (close to 7% RH)
until their weight was constant (steady state when Δm(t, t+24)<0.1%).
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Saturated solutions of magnesium chloride (MgCl2) and sodium chloride (NaCl) were used to
obtain the dry cup (33% RH) and wet cup (86% RH) conditions respectively. The test
chamber was kept at 20°C and 50% RH.
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The entire cup was then weighed at regular intervals until the steady state was reached. This
was considered to be the case when the difference between two consecutive weighings, 24
hours apart, became constant (i.e. differed by less than 0.1%).
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Permeability calculation
The values measured were: the water vapour permeability (π), the coefficient of diffusion
resistance (μ) and the equivalent thickness of air layer (Sd).
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i) Water vapour permeability (π)

The apparent water vapour permeability πapp [kg/(m.s.Pa)] is given by the relation (1):
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p  p v2 p  p v2
J v   π app v1   v1 [kg/m².s] (1)
th RD
where Jv is the density of mass flux; Pv1 and Pv2 are the outer and inner vapour partial
pressures of the cup respectively; th is the thickness of the material and R D is the diffusion
resistance, which comprises the resistance specific to the material, that of the air layer and that
of the cup/air interface:
RD = Rinterface + Rair layer+ Rmaterial (2)
In this study Rinterface was neglected because a sufficient air velocity was maintained. The
expression for the resistance of the air gap is:
th
R air layer  air (3)
π air

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where thair is the thickness of the air layer and πair is the air permeability (πair = 1.96.10-10
kg/(m.s.Pa) at 20°C [23]).

The air gap corrected permeability, π, is given by the relationship (4):

th
π[kg/(m.s. Pa)]  (4)
th air
Jv 
π air

ii) Water vapour diffusion resistance factor (μ)

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This is the ratio between the water vapour permeability of air, πair, and that of the material,

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according to the expression (7):
π
μ  air (7)
π

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The higher μ is, the more impervious the material is to water vapour.

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2.2.4 Heat capacity, thermal effusivity and conductivity
i) Adiabatic calorimeter for the measurement of heat capacity
For the determination of the specific heat, two right parallelepiped specimens were tested
(60x40x20 mm3). Before the test, the specimens were cured until their mass stabilized at
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T2=80°C and 3% RH. A specimen was then put into 1.5 L of water at T1=22°C inside the
calorimeter. Two thermocouples were placed inside the calorimeter to measure the evolution
of the temperature of the water. After stirring, the system quickly reached equilibrium (in
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about 40 minutes) at a temperature Teq. The adiabatic calorimeter used for this test was a
cylinder (14 cm inside diameter and 26 cm high).
As the temperature variations were assumed to be small and the calorimeter adiabatic, the heat
capacity of the solid could be found using the formula (8):
mcalo  cpcalo  meau  cpeau   (Teq  T1 )
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c p mat 
mmat  (T2  Teq )
(8)
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where mcalo, meau and mmat are the masses of the calorimeter, the water and the material
respectively, Teq, T1 and T2 are the temperatures defined previously, and Cpcalo and Cpeau are
the heat capacities of the calorimeter and the water.
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ii) Guarded hot plate method for measuring thermal conductivity

Thermal conductivity was measured in the steady state by the guarded hot plate method, with
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a -Meter EP 500. Measurements were performed according to standard NF EN 12664 [24].

The accuracy of the device was of the order of 5%. The samples used had a volume of 15 x 15
x 5 cm3. They were dried in an oven at 50°C and 7% RH until their mass was constant
(difference between two consecutive measurements 24h apart was less than 0.1%).The
measurement was made at 25°C with a temperature gradient of 5°C between the plates.

iii) Measurement of heat capacity and thermal effusivity

The Desprotherm device was used to measure both heat capacity and thermal effusivity. It is
based on the method of asymmetric hot plates: the material to be characterized is placed
between two plates of an insulating material having known characteristics. The method
requires a sample with parallel faces, which must have the same dimensions (60 x 40 mm ²) as
the resistive circuit (heating resistor). The thickness of the sample depends on the
characteristic to be measured. For effusivity, the measurement is made at the front of the

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sample with the assumption that the material is semi-infinite. This requires sufficient
thickness to ensure that the heat flow does not pass through the sample during the test (about
10 minutes). For the heat capacity, the measurement is made on the side opposite the heated
side. In this case, it is necessary for the heat flow to pass through the whole sample.

3. Results and discussion

3.1 Physical and mineralogical characterization
Table 2 shows the physical and mineralogical characteristics of the five bricks.

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The granular characteristics were similar, although slight differences could be observed. For

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example, the average clay content (particles < 2 µm) was close to 30% for all bricks, with a
minimum value of 23% for brick 3 and a maximum value of 38% for brick 5. Thus, the

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average particle size (D50) was highest for brick 3 (35 µm) and lowest for brick 5 (8 µm). It
is interesting to note that all the mixtures were composed only of clay, silt and sand, and the
proportions of these three phases were close to 1/3 each.

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The dry densities of the five bricks, shown in Table 2 (average values and standard deviation
()),were comparable (ranging between 2.02 and 2.07 g.cm-3) except for brick 4, which had a
much lower dry density (1.94 g.cm-3). This difference was due to the different manufacturing
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process used for this brick (compacted earth from the extruder was pressed into moulds by
means of a specific rotating auger). The compaction of the earth using this process is much
less efficient than that obtained using a conventional extrusion process.
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The differences between the five bricks essentially concerned their mineralogical
composition. The minerals contained in bricks 1 to 4 were similar, as was to be expected
because the bricks came from the same area (the maximum distance between the various pits
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close to Toulouse was 60 km). The clay minerals contained in these bricks were
montmorillonite, chlorite and illite. In addition to these clayey minerals, the materials
contained feldspars, calcite (CaCO3) and quartz (SiO2). Sample 5, which came from a pit
farther from the others, contained kaolinite as the clay mineral. Moreover, this brick was rich
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in iron oxides (goethite (FeO(OH)) and mica (muscovite that was easily recognizable because
it was present in the form of flakes visible with the naked eye). Like the others, the brick
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contained feldspar (only orthose in this case), quartz and a small amount of calcite (less than
2%).

3.2 Sorption - desorption isotherms

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Figure 5 shows the evolution of the water content of the five bricks subjected to increasing
relative humidity during a water vapour sorption test with the method of saturated salt
solutions.

The evolution of the water content with time for bricks subjected to increasing relative
humidity shows that the response of earth bricks to a relative humidity change was very fast.
For each step of relative humidity, the masses stabilized quickly - after only 3-4 days on
average - even though the samples were very large for this test (60x40x20 mm3). Although
this result was already qualitatively known (fast moisture regulation by earthen materials), to
the best of our knowledge there are very few scientific studies quantifying this efficiency in
terms of kinetics. The few sorption isotherms measured on earthen materials [6, 7, 13] only
give the final result, i.e. the changes in water content depending on the relative humidity. The
dynamic behaviour of water vapour sorption - desorption by earthen materials needs to be

Page 19 of 28
studied in greater detail in the future and compared to other building materials considered as
"conventional " because the speed of response of earthen materials to a change of relative
humidity is certainly one of the most interesting properties of earth for regulating the
humidity inside buildings.

It is also possible to interpret the results presented in Figure 5 by comparing the results
obtained on the five bricks. It is interesting to observe that the differences between the
samples were still the same up to the step at 97% RH. After this step, considerable changes
occurred due to the fact that, when 100% RH was approached, significant capillary
condensation occurred and led to a vertical asymptote on the sorption – desorption isotherms.

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The representativeness of values measured when the relative humidity was higher than 95% is

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therefore questionable. For the other steps, four bricks had quite similar behaviour (bricks 1 to
4). Brick 5 behaved differently from the other four since it absorbed only half the amount of

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water for RH between 33 and 97 %. This could easily be explained by the difference in the
nature of the clay minerals contained in this brick: it contained a clay (kaolinite) that was less
reactive than those (illite, chlorite and montmorillonite) contained in the other four bricks.

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This confirms the observation of Luizzi et al., who showed that a soil containing bentonite
(material rich in montmorillonite) absorbed much more water vapour than a soil containing
kaolinite [13].
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Figure 6 also shows the sorption-desorption isotherms measured using two different methods:
the DVS method and the method of saturated salt solutions.
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All the sorption-desorption curves obtained using DVS had a similar form even though there
were slight differences in the amounts of water absorbed by the five bricks. The experimental
points measured using DVS were very close to those measured by the saturated salt solutions
method. Both methods gave the same results, although there was a slight shift between the
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two tests. This may have been due to the definition of the dry state for the saturated salt
solutions method. The specimens were dried at 50°C and 7% RH (in accordance with EN ISO
12570 [25]) and could consequently contain residual humidity. Chemki et al. determined the
shape of the theoretical sorption isotherms of clay through models based on thermodynamics.
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Their results are in good agreement with the curves shown in Figure 6 [26]. It is interesting to
compare the values presented here with those found in the literature. The mass moisture
content of the five bricks reached 4-5% (corresponding to 80-100 kg.m-3) for the high values
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of relative humidity. In comparison, the values obtained by Hall et al. [6] on Stabilised
Rammed Earth (SRE) were much lower (between 25 and 50 kg.m-3 at 95% RH) but they were
comparable to those measured by Liuzzi et al. [13] in their works on soils containing kaolinite
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(80 kg.m-3 at 97% RH) or soils containing bentonite (80 kg.m-3 at 97% RH).

Hysteresis can be observed between the sorption and desorption isotherms. This difference
between the curves of sorption and desorption has already been studied in concrete [27] and in
bentonite [28]. It is possible to calculate a hysteresis value by subtracting the water content of
the soil during the drying isotherm from that during the wetting isotherm. The evolution of the
hysteresis value from the DVS method versus the relative humidity of the 5 bricks is shown in
Figure 7.

Figure 7 shows that the hysteresis observed on the earth bricks was low since the maximum
value, for a relative humidity of 80%, was 0.7%. In comparison, Baroghel-Bouny [27]
showed hysteresis in concrete equal to 7% for the same RH (ten times that obtained on the
earth bricks). Moreover, the results presented in Figure 7 show that the hysteresis value

Page 20 of 28
increased for increasing RH. It is interesting to note that the five bricks had very similar
behaviour although it was shown previously that these bricks had different water vapour
sorption capacities.

3.3 Vapour diffusion

Table 3 shows the water vapour permeability and the water vapour diffusion resistance factor
of the five bricks (average values and standard deviation ()) using dry cup and wet cup tests.

The five earth bricks studied had very low resistance to water vapour. The value of the
resistance to water vapour diffusion of dry cup was always higher than that obtained on wet

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cup. This point has already been mentioned by other authors using the same test method [29,

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30].
It is possible to compare these values with the reference values of some materials given in the

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2012 French Thermal Regulations [31]. Figure 8 shows the water vapour diffusion resistance
factor of conventional materials versus their dry density.

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The results presented in Figure 8 show that earth bricks, despite their high density correlated
with their load-bearing mechanical behaviour, exhibit very low water vapour diffusion
resistance. These bricks are much more permeable than concrete or calcareous stones and
their water vapour permeability is similar to those of porous construction materials such as
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wood concrete, cellular concrete or gypsum. This behaviour is comparable to that of fired
brick.
No value for the water vapour diffusion resistance of earthen construction materials is given
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in the French thermal regulations but, in the German standard on earth brick [32], the use of a
standard range between 5 and 10 is suggested, which is consistent with the values measured
on our five bricks. As shown in Figure 8, Luizzi et al. [13] measured similar water vapour
diffusion resistance factors: 11 for soil containing kaolinite and 8 for soil containing
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bentonite.

3.4 Heat capacity, thermal conductivity and effusivity

Table 4 shows the heat capacity values of the five bricks (average values and standard
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deviation ()), measured using two methods (calorimeter and Desprotherm).

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The values measured using the two methods were quite similar, although the Desprotherm
device systematically gave slightly higher values than the adiabatic calorimeter. The values of
heat capacity of the five bricks were very close to each and only ranged from 900 to 960 J.kg-
1 -1
.K . These values were quite similar to those found by Laurent [33] in 1987 who measured
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the Cp of nine samples of soil using a Calvet-type calorimeter. The values measured by this
author ranged from 807 to 897 J.kg-1.K-1. The French thermal regulation gives reference
values for sand (910-1180 J.kg-1.K-1) and clay (1670-2500 J.kg-1.K-1) [31]. The values
measured on the five earth bricks were significantly different from those given in the French
thermal regulation, earth bricks being composed of approximately half sand and half clay.
Meukam et al. [8] have measured the heat capacity of cement-stabilized laterite bricks using
an adiabatic calorimeter and obtained a value of 1000 J.kg-1.K-1. The heat capacity used by
Hall and Allinson [5, 7] for their study on SRE ranged from 786 to 868 J.kg-1.K-1. In these
studies on stabilized earth, the heat capacity was close to those found in Table 4 for the five
unstabilized earth bricks.

Page 21 of 28
Table 5 shows the dry thermal conductivity of the five bricks (50°C, 7% RH) measured
directly using the guarded hot plate method or calculated from the effusivity measured using
the Desprotherm apparatus.

For both methods, the values obtained on three specimens were relatively scattered (the
highest standard deviation was 0.10). With such dispersion, it could be considered that the
values found with the two methods were practically the same. Moreover, as for other
hygrothermal characteristics, the dry thermal conductivities measured on all five bricks were
very close. It is possible to compare the values measured on the five bricks with others from
the literature. Figure 9 presents the evolution of thermal conductivity as a function of dry

t
density for various bricks [5-8, 13] and the mathematical function λ=0.0559*exp(0.0014*ρd)

ip
proposed by Kadir et al. [34].

cr
All data from the literature were around the values given by the function Kadir et al. [34] and
were much higher than those obtained on our five bricks but none of the bricks studied in the
literature were extruded like the five bricks presented in this paper. During the process used

us
here, the orientation of the clay platelets in the direction of extrusion could result in
anisotropic behaviour of the material. Two directions can then be considered: perpendicular
and parallel to the extrusion. In this work, thermal conductivities were measured in the
perpendicular direction, where thermal flux was perpendicular to the clay platelets and the
an
thermal conductivity value could be lower, as has been demonstrated in the case of fired brick
[35]. Some additional experiments will be necessary to quantify the impact of anisotropy on
thermal conductivity for extruded clay bricks.
M
The moisture-dependent thermal properties were measured using the Desprotherm apparatus.
This was possible because the duration of a test using this apparatus is short (less than 10
minutes), which means that the water content of the samples can be considered not to change
ed

during the test. Figure 10 shows the impact of the saturation degree (Sr) of bricks on their
thermal conductivity. In this figure, the ratio λSr to λdry is plotted versus the various Sr for the
five bricks.
pt

For low water content (Sr under 20%), there was a linear correlation between the ratio λSr to
λdry and the saturation degree. Over this limit, the ratio λSr to λdry seemed to reach its
maximum. The linear correlation appeared to be independent of the mineralogy and the
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density of the earth bricks; the results obtained for the various bricks were similar and in
accordance with those for materials studied in other works (Liuzzi et al [13] and other studies
[5, 12, 33]).
Ac

Figure 11 shows the thermal effuvisity of the five bricks measured using the Desprotherm
apparatus. These values are compared to those of the French thermal regulations [31] and are
presented according to their water vapour diffusion resistance factors.

Like the soils studied by Luizzi et al. [13], the five earth bricks of the present study had high
thermal effusivity, which gave them high thermal inertia favourable to the thermal comfort
and energy efficiency of buildings. As is the case for fired bricks, earth bricks possess both
high thermal inertia and low water vapour diffusion resistance. In the case of earth bricks,
taken together with their highly hygroscopic behaviour (see 3.2), this would result in high
hygroscopic inertia. Supplementary tests will have to be performed to complete this
comparison but figure 11 already highlights the fact that conventional porous materials
(cellular and wood concrete) present limited thermal effusivity, while massive materials such

Page 22 of 28
as concrete or calcareous stone have a very high resistance to water vapour diffusion. In
contrast, earth bricks combine the qualities of high thermal effusivity and low resistance to
water vapour diffusion.

4. Conclusion
This paper has dealt with the characterization of extruded earth bricks produced in five
brickworks in the neighbourhood of Toulouse in southern France. The hygrothermal
properties studied during this work were vapour sorption, water vapour permeability, heat
capacity and moisture-dependent thermal conductivity and effusivity. The five bricks were
also characterized from the physical and mineralogical points of view.

t
ip
This characterization showed that the five bricks had comparable physical characteristics
(particle size distribution and density) except for brick 4, which had a lower density due to the

cr
specific process used in the brickworks it came from. One of the main differences among the
five bricks concerned their mineralogical composition and, more precisely, the nature of the
clay they contained: the clay minerals contained in bricks 1 to 4 were montmorillonite,

us
chlorite and illite whereas the only clay mineral in brick 5 was kaolinite.

Despite this difference, the hygrothermal characteristics measured on the five bricks were
very close to each other and often close to the few data existing in the literature on earthen
an
materials. The only slight difference that could be linked to the nature of clay minerals
concerns the amount of water vapour absorbed by the brick, which was smaller for brick 5.
The hygrothermal properties of the five earth bricks confirmed their capacity to rapidly absorb
M
a significant amount of water vapour and thus their capacity to regulate the relative humidity
of indoor air, especially because the earthen material had a very high permeability to water
vapour. The results of sorption experiments using the saturated salts solution method
highlighted another positive hygric property of earth bricks: their very fast moisture
ed

regulation.
The dynamic behaviour of water vapour sorption - desorption by earthen materials should be
studied in more detail in the future and compared with that of other building materials
considered as "conventional " because the speed of response of earthen materials to a change
pt

of relative humidity is certainly one of the most interesting properties of earth for regulating
the humidity inside buildings. Further experimental tests are needed to study the
instantaneous hygroscopic behaviour of construction materials by better reproducing the real
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situation in the indoor climate. Conventional tests for the measurement of sorption-desorption
isotherms were operated in static mode, waiting for the steady state to be achieved at each
step of increasing (or decreasing) RH. Such tests gave interesting information on the physical
Ac

properties of the porous media but did not permit the real evolution of relative humidity (and
thus the response of the material used inside the buildings) to be simulated for an indoor
climate. These tests on the dynamic behaviour of water vapour sorption – desorption could be
carried out using the NORDTEST procedure, for example, to measure the MBV (Moisture
Buffer Value) of these materials [36].

Concerning their thermal properties, the measurements of heat capacity on the five earth
bricks confirmed the data existing in the literature but their dry thermal conductivities were
much lower than those found in the literature (half the average value). Even though the
thermal conductivity of the extruded earth bricks studied was lower than that of other earthen
materials, this result was already well known and was not sufficient to signify that earth
should be considered as a good insulating material. The main interest of earth from the
thermal point of view concerns its high thermal effusivity, which results from its high density

Page 23 of 28
coupled with high heat capacity and limited thermal conductivity. This high thermal inertia
will improve the thermal behaviour of buildings (comfort and energy savings).

Experimental studies on earthen materials are often complex because this material does not
resist water: the preparation of the specimens by sawing or coring is always difficult (or
impossible) and the procedures used for conventional construction materials are often
inappropriate. During this study, it was thus necessary to adapt the procedures proposed in the
standards to this type of material. To verify the validity of these adaptations, two markedly
different experimental methods were used to measure the hygrothermal properties except for
the water vapour permeability. The results obtained with the two methods were similar for

t
each property and thus validated the experimental procedures.

ip
Further studies could be carried out in order to quantify the impact of anisotropy of extruded

cr
brick on its thermal and transfer properties. Moreover, the present experimental study on the
use of these five bricks as construction material to improve occupant comfort and the quality
of indoor air could be advantageously completed by the use of experimental data measured in

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models via hygrothermal software.

Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank the Midi-Pyrénées Region for its financial support via the
TERCRUSO project. an
References
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ed

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Ac

rammed earth materials, Building and Environment 44 (2009) 1935–1942.

[7] D. Allinson, M. Hall, Hygrothermal analysis of a stabilised rammed earth test building in
the UK, Energy and Buildings 42 (2010) 845–852.
[8] P. Meukam, A. Noumowe, Y. Jannot, R. Duval, Thermophysical and mechanical
characterization of stabilized clay bricks for building thermal insulation, Materials and
Structures 36 (2003) 453-460.
[9] J.E. Oti, J.M. Kinuthia, J. Bai, Design thermal values for unfired clay bricks, Material and
Design 31 (2010) 104–112.
[10] S. Goodhew, R. Griffiths, Sustainable earth walls to meet the building regulations,
Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 451–459.
[11] M.L. Parra-Saldivar, W. Batty, Thermal behaviour of adobe constructions, Building and
Environment 41 (2006) 1892–1904.

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[12] A.M. Tang, Y.J. Cui, T.T. Le, A study on the thermal conductivity of compacted
bentonites, Applied Clay Science 41 (2008) 181–189.
[13] S. Liuzzi, M.R. Hall, P. Stefanizzi, S.P. Casey, Hygrothermal behaviour and relative
humidity buffering of unfired and hydrated lime-stabilised clay composites in a
Mediterranean climate, Building and Environment 61 (2013) 82-92.
[14] J.E. Aubert, M. Gasc-Barbier, Hardening of clayey soil blocks during freezing and
thawing cycles, Applied Clay Science 65 (2012) 1–5.
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[16] D. Maskell, A. Heath, P. Walker, Laboratory scale testing of extruded earth masonry

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units, Material and Design 45 (2013) 353-364.

ip
[17] A. Heath, P. Walker, C. Fourie, M. Lawrence, Compressive strength of extruded unfired
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Méthode par sédimentation, 1992
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minerals – Second edition, Oxford University press, 1997.
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an
[22] NF EN ISO 12572, Hygrothermal performance of building materials and products –
Determination of water vapour transmission properties, 2001.
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of thermal resistance by means of guarded hot plate and heat flow meter methods – Dry and
moist products of medium and low thermal resistance, 2001.
[25] EN ISO 12570, Hygrothermal performance of building materials and products —
ed

Determination of moisture content by drying at elevated temperature, 2000.

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materials Part I: essential tool for analysis of hygral behaviour and its relation to pore
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Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics 38 (2006) 1105-1110.

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Kumaran, L. Pel, R. Plagge, Interlaboratory comparison of hygric properties of porous
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building materials, Journal of Thermal Envelope and Building Science 27 (2004) 307-325.
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properties of wood-based materials, European Journal of Wood and Wood Products 67 (2009)
313-321.
[31] Règles Th-U Fascicule 2 : Matériaux, CSTB March 2012.
[32] DIN 18945: Lehmsteine – Begriffe, Anforderungen, Prüfverfahren, August 2013.
[33] JP Laurent, Propriétés thermiques du matériau terre, Cahiers du CSTB, May 1987.
[34] A.A. Kadir, A. Mohajerani, F. Roddick, Density, strength, thermal conductivity and
leachate characteristics of light-weight fired clay bricks incorporating cigarette butts, World
Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 53 (2009) 1035-1040.
[35] M. Kornmann, Clay bricks and rooftiles, manufacturing and properties, Editions
Septima, 2007.

Page 25 of 28
[36] C. Rode, Moisture Buffering of Building Materials, BYG DTU Report, Department of
Civil Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2005.

Figure captions
Figure 1: Locations of the various brickworks
Figure 2: Principle of the Dynamic Vapour System (DV2, SMS, UK)
Figure 3: Example of the variation of mass and relative humidity during a sorption-desorption
test
Figure 4: Operating conditions for the cup method

t
Figure 5: Evolution of mass moisture content in increasing relative humidity (saturated salt

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solutions)
Figure 6: Comparison between the sorption-desorption isotherms measured using the DVS

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and saturated salt solution methods
Figure 7: Hysteresis value versus Relative Humidity
Figure 8: Comparisons between water vapour diffusion resistance factors of earth bricks and

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those of conventional materials
Figure 9: Thermal conductivity versus dry density compared to scientific data from the
literature [5-9, 13, 34]
Figure 10: Variation of thermal conductivity with saturation degree of bricks and comparison
with Liuzzi et al. [13] an
Figure 11: Thermal effuvisity of the five bricks compared to those of conventional materials
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pt
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Page 26 of 28
Table(s) with Caption(s)

Tables and table captions

Table 1: Dimensions of the five earth bricks

Sample Length (cm) Width (cm) Height (cm)
1 22 10.5 5
2 33 10 10
3 40.5 13.5 5
4 22 10.5 5
5 37 15 8

t
ip
Table 2: Physical and mineralogical characterization of the five bricks
Brick 1 2 3 4 5

cr
Clay
30 29 23 29 38
(<2 µm) (%)
Silt

us
28 37 31 33 27
(2-50 µm) (%)
Granular
Sand
characteristics 42 33 43 37 35
(50-2000 µm) (%)
Gravel
(2-5 mm) (%)
D50 (µm)
0
17
1
10
an 3
35
1
20
0
8
Physical Dry density  () 2.06 2.03 2.02 1.94 2.07
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characteristics (g.cm-3) (0.01) (0.01) (0.04) (0.01) (0.03)
Montmorillonite
Clay minerals Chlorite Kaolinite
ed

Illite
Mineralogical Albite Goethite
characteristics Orthose Orthose
Other Muscovite Muscovite
pt

Calcite Calcite
Quartz Quartz
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Table 3: Water vapour permeability (  ) and water vapour diffusion resistance factor (  ) of
the five bricks
Test Sample Brick 1 Brick 2 Brick 3 Brick 4 Brick 5
 ()
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2.5 (0.08) 2.1 (0.08) 1.0 (0.24) 2.7 (0.14) 1.3 (0.00)
Dry
cup

-1 -1 -1 -11
(kg.m .s .Pa )x10
 7 9 19 7 14
 ()
6.2 (0.66) 3.0 (0.21) 3.7 (0.05) 4.7 (0.34) 2.7 (0.57)
Wet
cup

(kg.m-1.s-1.Pa-1)x10-11
 3 6 5 4 7

Table 4: Heat capacity of the five bricks (kJ.kg-1.K-1)

Sample Brick 1 Brick 2 Brick 3 Brick 4 Brick 5
Calorimeter 960 940 900 940 910
Desprotherm 1020 960 960 1030 950

Page 27 of 28
Table 5: Comparison of the dry thermal conductivity of the five bricks measured using two
methods
 dry () (W.m .K )
-1 -1
 dry () (W.m .K )
-1 -1
Sample Guarded hot plate
Desprotherm method
method
Brick 1 0.59 (0.01) 0.65 (0.05)
Brick 2 0.56 (0.08) 0.40 (0.10)
Brick 3 0.52 (0.10) 0.69 (0.09)

t
Brick 4 0.56 (0.03) 0.59 (0.10)

ip
Brick 5 0.47 (0.02) 0.52 (0.09)

cr
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pt
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Page 28 of 28