Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292

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Energy and Buildings

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Preventing overheating in offices through thermal inertial properties

of compressed earth bricks: A study on a real scale prototype
Arianna Brambilla a,b,∗ , Thomas Jusselme a
a
Building2050, EPFL Fribourg, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Fribourg. Switzerland
b
School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Buildings are increasingly required to be efficient not just in their operation, but from construction to
Received 6 March 2017 demolition. Thus, interest in natural construction materials with low embodied environmental impacts
Received in revised form 7 September 2017 has increased, (re)inventing materials and components from vernacular architecture. Compressed Earth
Accepted 25 September 2017
Bricks (CEBs) are an example of this kind of component. They are flexible in a wide range of applications
Available online 2 October 2017
and their natural features favour their usage as thermally massive elements to increase a building’s ther-
mal inertia (TI). The ability to store heat during the day and release it later helps buildings in dampening
Keywords:
thermal swings, making TI a good strategy for preventing overheating in offices usually characterized by
Compressed earth bricks
Thermal inertia
critical internal loads.
Overheating Previous studies highlighted the difference between the thermal behaviour results obtained with tests
Free cooling on the materials, like experiments in controlled climatic chambers and real-world applications. In this
Thermal comfort study, an application of CEBs is taken as a case-study to analyse the thermal behaviour of an earthen wall
and the potential of coupling night ventilation to stabilize temperatures and increase indoor comfort.
Comparing the results obtained in two different rooms, representative of lightweight and heavyweight
earthen construction, it was possible to quantify the contribution of CEBs walls to the passive cooling
strategy in office buildings, according to different ventilation profiles/scenarios.
© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Previous studies highlighted the difference between the ther-
mal behaviour results obtained with tests on the materials, like
experiments in controlled climatic chambers and real-world appli-
cations. In this study, an application of CEBs is taken as a case-study
to analyse the thermal behaviour of an earthen wall and the poten-
tial of coupling night ventilation to stabilize temperatures and
increase indoor comfort. Comparing the results obtained in two
different rooms, representative of lightweight and heavyweight
earthen construction, it was possible to quantify the contribution
of CEBs walls to the passive cooling strategy in office buildings,
according to different ventilation profiles/scenarios.
1. Introduction
The constant growth of world population [1] means more build-
ings and infrastructure, which will further increase the green-house
gas emissions, energy demand and waste production from the con-
∗ Corresponding author at: School of Architecture, Design and Planning, University
of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
E-mail address: ing.ariannabrambilla@gmail.com (A. Brambilla).
struction sector. This industry already accounts for up to 40% of
the primary energy used in Europe [2] and almost one third of the
energy consumption in the world [3]. The impacts of energy use in
buildings has been tackled by the EU with a specific Directive [4],
which introduces the concept of Nearly Zero Energy Buildings [5].
However, cooling demand in the commercial sector has increased
dramatically in the last decades [6] due to higher internal gains,
higher comfort expectations, and warmer summertime conditions
[7]. Moreover, lightweight and over-insulated constructions are
unable to dissipate the high internal heat gains, resulting in the
accumulation of heat and overheating during the day [8]. This is
typically the situation of office, characterized by high-internal-load,
which concur with the low capacity of heat dissipation in increasing
the indoor temperatures.
Thermal inertia (TI) has been studied as an effective method
to reduce cooling loads in the summertime [9,10] and preventing
overheating, thanks to its capacity to store the internal heat during
the day and release it during un-occupied hours [8]. It modifies
the way a building responds to changes in external and internal
conditions, especially in buildings with a recurrent use pattern [11].
The effectiveness of TI is enhanced if coupled with night venti-
lation, which improves the cooling potential by dissipating during

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.09.070
0378-7788/© 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
282 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292
the un-occupied hours the heat stored in the building fabric dur-
ing the day [12–15]. However, due to the dynamic interactions
between TI, the context, and the building [16], the cooling potential
may significantly vary from case to case and the magnitude of its
effects become difficult to predict [17]. The strong dependency on
the interactions between several parameters [18] and the difficul-
ties in describing them properly introduce a gap between thermal
simulations and reality [19,20], often overestimating TI effects [21].
For this reason, real scale experiments are necessary to define the
specific potential of TI. From the literature review, a great poten-
tial lies in TI application, especially when coupled with optimal
ventilation strategies [22]. The specificity of TI effects to each case
makes important to contextualize and understand its potential dur-
ing the early design phase to understand the possible benefits on
the building’s performance.
This paper aims to quantify by real scale experiment the cool-
ing potential of TI in the framework of the smart living building
research project [23], towards the definition of design solutions
for a future low-carbon building. The research project goal is the
definition of design guidelines useful for the future architectural
competition aimed at the design of an innovative building with
outstanding energy and environmental performances, placed in
Fribourg (Switzerland). In this framework, TI becomes essential as
passive strategy to have a better indoor control without mechanical
cooling system, avoiding indoor temperature peaks. The objective
of the presented case study is to analyse the effects of TI applied to
the specific case of an office building, through the comparison of
the indoor temperatures achieved by two different rooms charac-
terized by different TI levels. For this, an experimental campaign to
compare a lightweight and a massive construction was carried out
on a 1:1 scale prototype, due to the necessity of defining TI contri-
bution to heat-peaks reduction in the specific case of smart living
building.
A previous analysis [24] investigated the role of TI in reduc-
ing heating demand, highlighting the importance of using natural
materials for an environmentally efficient design solution. The
results demonstrated that TI has slight benefits on heating energy
demand consumption, yet negligible due to the low percentage
of reduction, which is less than 6% for very heavy constructions.
Rather, another interesting conclusion was found: TI is an inter-
esting strategy on life cycle optimization only when low-carbon
materials are used to increase the building’s thermal behaviour:
concrete, fired bricks and concrete-based materials have higher
embodied impacts that can’t be balance by the savings induced on
the operative energy use [24]. New innovative building standards
are pushing the industry towards the concept of zero operational
energy, reducing the impacts related to the operative life and,
consequently, increasing the role of construction materials in the
building’s overall environmental performance [25–27]. Choosing
appropriate materials can reduce the building’s energy use up to
17% [28] and cut almost 30% of the carbon emissions [29]. For
this reason, we have witnessed an upsurge in interest in natu-
ral or new materials [30] that promise a lower embodied energy
demand [31]. One such material is earth, or soil, a vernacular solu-
tion re-discovered as an answer to the new challenge of finding
low-carbon resources for sustainable architecture. In the analysis
presented unfired earth bricks are used to implement TI. Smart liv-
ing building research frames the analysis towards the optimization
of the envelope performances on a life cycle perspectives, introduc-
ing a strict requirement to the materials choice: natural materials
for TI have benefits on LCA due to their low embodied impacts and,
therefore, they could play a key-role in the whole building life cycle
performances.
1.1. Earth products and compressed earth bricks
Earth materials are, in many situations, good alternatives to
the traditional ones used in constructions [32,33]. They are often
cheaper [34,35] and using earth reduces the energy required
for construction and operation [36,37]. In addition, the embod-
ied impacts related to earth construction are almost half of a
traditional Portland cement building [38], mainly due to the
material-extraction process [32] that allows the extensive re-use of
waste soil [39], and the abundance of suitable soil. Environmental
benefits are not the only positive effects of earthen materials. Stud-
ies have highlighted the pleasant indoor environment achieved
in rammed earth buildings, especially because of the hygrother-
mal comfort [40–44] and the relative absence of toxic substances
[45]. In the case study TI effects are implemented through Com-
pressed Earth Bricks (CEBs), selected among all the possible earthen
products available on the market [32]. The choice was driven by
two factors: the thermal characteristic of the bricks and the easy
implementation in the scale 1:1 prototype. CEBs thermal properties
are particularly indicated for implementing TI, as they have high
specific heat capacity (approx. 1.1 kJ/kgK), which determines the
capacity of the materials to store heat, and relatively high thermal
conductivity (approx. 0.79 W/mK), which indicates how rapidly the
heat stored will move inside the material allowing for higher stor-
age. Great heat capacity and appreciable heat conductivity are two
essential properties for a material that must be used to increase TI
[46]. High conductivity without sufficient heat capacity defines a
material that cannot store enough heat; on the contrary, a material
with high heat capacity and low conductivity might have a slower
store-and-release heat cycle, with negative impacts on the indoor
environment. In fact, slow thermal cycles can mean that the heat is
released during the following day, resulting in additional heat load
for the building during the heat-peaks. Instead, CEBs are character-
ized by the optimal mix between these two parameters. Moreover,
the system used in the analysis is a complete dry system: the blocks
are pre-formed with a special male-female joint visible in Fig. 5 and
don’t need the use of mortar. This feature results in less time for the
implementation in the prototype and the possibility to demount the
additional walls without compromising the material.
The CEB technique is a perfect example of innovation from archi-
tectural tradition: CEB system is the evolution of the ancient adobe
bricks technique, usually used in vernacular architecture. In this
process, blocks of soil are manually or mechanically compressed
inside a mold to obtain heavy and resistant blocks, enhancing their
structural properties [32]. Recent studies on earth buildings have
focused mostly on the seismic and structural issue [32] or on the
moisture buffering potential of earth as porous material [46–49,53].
However, the contribution of CEBs to building TI has not been
extensively researched [50,46,52], even though their high thermal
capacity makes CEB a perfect material for TI purpose. Studies are
often conducted either in a steady-state condition [46] overlook-
ing the dynamic response of thermal inertia or on bricks as singular
product [53].
The lack of information about CEB potential in thermal inertia
application [21,46,51], the necessity of transient analysis [16,17],
the difficulties encountered by virtual simulations in describing TI
phenomenon [19,20] and the relevance of these issue in the smart
living lab framework [23,24] contribute to highlight the relevance
of an in-situ experimental campaign aimed at the quantification
of the potential of CEB, TI and ventilation as low-carbon cooling
strategy in continental climate.
 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292 283

Fig. 1. Architectural plan (right) and section (left) of the prototype with the two identical double-office rooms. The room on the right has a second internal layer of earth-bricks
and it is the experimental High inertial room. The other is representative of a wooden lightweight construction, typical of high efficiency Swiss buildings.

2. Experimental set-up
The test facility consisted of two rooms characterized by dif-
ferent levels of TI: light inertia (LI) and heavy inertia (HI). The
rooms are placed side-by-side facing south. The LI room is a
wooden lightweight construction, insulated on the external side
with 180 mm of polyurethane (0.15 W/m2 K). The HI room has an
additional CEB layer on the internal side, with a total of approx-
imately 10 tons of earthen bricks. The high thermal resistance of
the envelope minimizes the thermal exchange with the external
environment, either thermal loss and thermal storage form solar
radiation. Therefore, the only heat sources that participates to the
thermal accumulation are the internal heat gains. Under these con-
ditions, it is possible to consider negligible the accumulation in the
two walls with opposite orientations.
During the experimental campaign, every heat source was con-
trolled: windows were completely shaded and internal gains were
artificially reproduced following the same daily pattern. Various
ventilation scenarios were used to create a variability of test condi-
tions for enhancing the ‘flywheel’ effect of TI.1 Monitoring lasted for
21 days during August 2016, i.e., summer conditions. During this
1
A flywheel stores electrical charge, analogously a CEB wall stores thermal charge.
284 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292

Fig. 2. Pictures of the prototype. On the right: the prototype during the experiment phase. The windows were obscured completely with insulated wooden panels (6 mm)
and a dark plastic sheet, to prevent uncontrolled heat gains from solar radiation.

Fig. 3. Internal gains profile used. The discretization of the internal gains curve into
5 steps makes it easier to reproduce with an artificial internal gain source.

period no heat waves were recorded and no significant variation

from the average climatic conditions was seen. Performance was
evaluated with temperature profiles of the room air temperatures
and overheating degree hours, according to the (Swiss) SIA180
standard [54].

2.1. Description of the experimental facilities

The model used as case study is a small prototype built in Fri-

bourg, Switzerland. It is composed of two rooms of 18 m2 each,
which reflect the dimensions of a typical double office per SIA
2024 [55]. The two rooms are placed side by side and divided by
a buffer zone that serves as anteroom and technical space. Each
room has two windows on opposite façades, oriented on the SW/NE
axis. Fig. 1 shows the architectural dimensions of the prototype, in
Fig. 2, instead, it is possible to see the building during the experi-
ment.
2.2. Internal gains model
The analysis aims at the comparison of different Ti and ven-
tilation strategies under the same conditions of a standard-use
scenario. External heat sources were removed with a highly-
insulated shell and
an optimal window shading system. The windows were
obscured completely with insulated wooden panels (6 mm) and a
dark plastic sheet, to prevent uncontrolled heat gains from solar
Fig. 4. The timed light garlands used in the experiment to reproduce internal gains.
radiation (visible in Fig. 2). The internal gains profile (IGp) used
is the sum of standard occupational, lighting, electrical profiles
−taken from SIA 2024 [55] − and solar radiation contribution. The
latter have been evaluated thanks to thermal dynamic simulations,
done with trnsys-software. The prototype has been recreated in the
virtual environment with an automatic shading system assumed
optimized on the comfort threshold defined by the norms [56]. The
part of solar heat gains produced in the room during the worst
summer day were added to IGp. In this way the daily discretised
IGp pattern have been defined, Fig. 3.
A lighting system made of garlands of incandescent bulbs
(power 15W each, of which 95% is assumed to be converted to sen-
sible heat gain) was used to reproduce IGp. During the monitoring
 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292 285

Fig. 5. Pictures of the compressed earth bricks wall. CEB has been used to implement TI due to their high thermal capacity and the low embodied impacts. On a life cycle
perspective, unfired earth is a very interesting material, which can optimize its benefits on the operative use of energy without impacting negatively on the grey energy
balance.

Table 1
Description of the principal parameters used to describe TI.

PARAMETER DESCRIPTION REFERENCE

Admittance factor ratio of heat flux variation in relation to temperature variation over a 24-h cycle [58]
Diurnal heat capacity ability of a material to store heat during a continuous 24-h cycle [59]
Heat capacity expression of the heat storage ability of building enclosures [60]
M factor transient correction of the steady state U value for building enclosures [61]
Thermal capacity ratio between heat storage changes to the resulting change in temperature [60]
Thermal effusivity expression of the response in surface temperature to a change of heat flow density [62]
Capacitance ability of a material to store heat [63]

Table 2
TI classification of building enclosure base on the thermal capacity and the equivalent effective exchange surface.

THERMAL INERTIA Cm/Ah

Am/Ah 80–109 110–164 165–219 220–259 260–309 310–329 330–349 350–369 370–499 >500
1.0–1.4 Very light Very light Very light Very light Light Light Light Light Light Light
1.5–1.9 Very light Very light Light Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium
2.0–2.4 Very light Light Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Heavy Heavy Heavy
2.5–2.9 Very light Light Medium Medium Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Very heavy
3.0–3.9 Very light Light Medium Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Very heavy Very heavy
4.0–4.4 Very light Light Medium Heavy Heavy Heavy Heavy Very heavy Very heavy Very heavy
4.5–4.9 Very light Light Medium Heavy Heavy Heavy Very heavy Very heavy Very heavy Very heavy
>5.0 Very light Light Medium Heavy Heavy Very heavy Very heavy Very heavy Very heavy Very heavy

phase, the garlands were uniformly distributed over the volume.
To achieve the internal load indicated in each time-step of the dis-
crete profile (Fig. 3), the garlands were divided into three switching
groups linked to a timer, programmed to switch the lamps on and
off according to IGp. An example of the garlands is shown in Fig. 4.
2.3. Thermal inertia levels
TI effectiveness derives from the interactions among different
parameters related to the building mass, materiality and design
features. There isn’t an agreed methodology on how to quantify and
describe the phenomenon of heating storage and several methods
can be found in literature, as well as several parameters that can be
used to describe the TI concept [57]. The most used and accredited
by normative are reported in Table 1.
The analysis uses the French thermal regulation [64], since that
regulation allows the consideration of transient phenomena. In
this definition, TI is estimated on the basis of the relationship
between the heat capacity of the thermal zone considered, assum-
ing a sinusoidal temperature swing with a period of 24 h (Cm ), and
the equivalent effective exchange surface (Am ).
These two parameters are defined as:
 Natural ventilation was used as a passive cooling strategy, as sug-
Cm = Ai · xi + 20Ah
 2  
Am = ( Ai · xi ) / Ai · xi2 (2)
Where Ai is the floor area of ith -wall of the zone expressed in m2 ,
Ah is the heated surface (m2 ) and xi is the heat capacity of the ith -
wall calculated as in ISO 13786. Given 1) and 2), it is possible to
determine the TI level for the given thermal zone according to the
reference table given by the norm [66], reported in Table 2.
In the analysis, the TI levels has been calculated for the
lightweight construction, resulting as light (Cm = 187088 kJ/K
and Am = 3751 m2 ). The amount of CEB has been calculated to
achieve instead a very heavy classification (Cm = 315844 kJ/K and
Am = 4418 m2 ) (Table 3).
2.4. Ventilation models
The prototype is equipped with a dual-flow ventilation unit
(Stiebel Eltron), which serves both rooms.
Different ventilation scenarios were used to test several usage
situations and set up a reliable comparison between the two TI
levels in relation to different boundary conditions. Mechanical ven-
tilation air flow was planned according to the recommendations of
the SIA 2024 standard for the ventilation profiles for offices [55].
(1)
gested in the literature review.
286 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292

Table 3
Description of the wall layers with thermal properties of the used materials, taken from the products??? technical sheets. An exception is the heat capacity of the earth
bricks, which is an average value provided by the literature review. The bricks used are manually manufactured with local earth and it was not possible to obtain the specific
characterization from a testing laboratory.

COMPONENTS MATERIALS Thickness [mm] Conductivity ␭ [W/m K] Density ␦ [kg/m3 ] Heat capacity C [kJ/kg K]

ROOF Bitumen elastomeric membrane 4 0.2 875 4.5

Insulation polyurethane 180 0.031 15 1.116
Vapour barrier 0.22 0.4 500 1.8
OSB panels 25 0.13 600 2.15

FLOOR Linoleum 3 0.17 1200 1.47

Cement screed (fiber reinforced) 50 0.8 1400 1
Acoustic insulation 9 0.15 556 1.7
OSB panels 25 0.13 600 2.15
Insulation glass wool 350 0.032 28 1.03
Wooden panels 60 0.047 250 2.1

WALLS (Low Inertia) Wooden structure 140 0.13 471 1.6

Vapour barrier 0.22 0.4 500 1.8
Insulation polyurethane 180 0.031 15 1.116
Permeable membrane 0.45 0.17 900 1.8
Ventilation chamber 50 – – –
Wooden cladding 24 0.15 450 1.8

WALLS (High Inertia) Compressed earth bricks 140 0.79 1900 1.1
Wooden structure 140 0.13 471 1.6
Vapour barrier 0.22 0.4 500 1.8
Insulation polyurethane 180 0.031 15 1.116
Permeable membrane 0.45 0.17 900 1.8
Ventilation chamber 50 – – –
Wooden cladding 24 0.15 450 1.8

Table 4 2.6. Sensors and monitoring phase

Description of the ventilation strategy adopted in each scenario.

SCENARIO DAY ventilation NIGHT ventilation HEAT GAINS A main Vaisala GMW93R transmitter was mounted in the mid-
dle of the inner walls of each room. This module contains a digital
08.00/20.00 20.00/08.00
temperature sensor, a humidity sensor (Humicap 180R) and a car-
1 SIA SIA IGp
bon dioxide detector (Carbocap GM10), which was not used for the
2 SIA natural IGp
3 SIA – IGp experimental campaign. All of them were calibrated individually
4 – SIA IGp by the producer and tested before the experiment. For the experi-
5 – natural IGp ments, several additional thermocouples (type K) were installed to
6 – – IGp check the homogeneity of the temperature distribution. A series of
sensors placed in the longitudinal external walls were used to mon-
itor the temperature variation in the envelope. In the LI room three
surface measurements were taken: on the outside, on the internal
Night ventilation (08:00 p.m.–08:00 a.m.) and day ventilation side of the wooden structure, and in the indoor air ‘layer’ close to
profiles (08:00 a.m.–08:00 p.m.) were defined separately and then the wall. In the HI room two sensors were added: in the middle
combined to create 6 ventilation scenarios. Daytime ventilation had of the CEBs layer and on the internal surface of the bricks. Data
two options, mechanical ventilation turned on with a flow rate of were collected with a time step of 5 min and synchronized with
50 m3 /h or completely switched off, with the latter representing the external temperature and humidity probes installed outside;
the worst case for over-heating, since heat is continuously accu- collected instant maximum and minimum data are used to under-
mulated during the occupied hours. The night-time operation had stand the extreme conditions achievable in the two rooms, while
three different ventilation profiles: mechanical (50 m3 /h), natural, the calculated hourly averages give the idea of the temperature
and none. The latter was reproduced by opening the hopper (or swing through the days in the different scenarios.
tilt-turn) windows placed on the south-east façade with an open- The two rooms have the same arrangement of sensors.
ing angle of 5◦ . The profiles were then combined to create scenarios
ranging from standard utilization (based on the SIA norms) to very 3. Results
critical (no ventilation).
3.1. Weather conditions

2.5. Scenarios External temperatures were logged with a temperature probe

The six ventilation scenarios used are listed in Table 4: Descrip-
tion of the ventilation strategy adopted in each scenario. Each
scenario lasted two days, starting from 08:00 p.m. The first night
was used to calibrate the system, letting the two rooms adapt
and start the regime described by the scenario. Doors were kept
closed for the duration of the experiment, except for the regular
checks on equipment and sensors, which lasted no more than 3 min
each. No significant influence of these visits is noticeable on the
results.
and compared with data from the Swiss Climate Agency [65] to
exclude any anomaly of the sensors network (Fig. 6) . The summer of
2016 consistently showed large day-night temperature differences
(up to 20?? C). On the one hand, this did not allow us to test TI
strategy under heat wave conditions, on the other hand, it enabled
us to test the rooms under inconstant thermal input.
Minimum outdoor temperatures ranged between 6.8 ◦ C and
15.2 ◦ C, while maximum temperatures were between 17.5 ◦ C and
27.6 ◦ C. Recorded data show that the summer was cooler than the
typical year data would indicate, as shown in Fig. 7. That the aver-
 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292 287

Fig. 6. Disposition of the sensors inside one room. In the other they are placed identically. For the experiment campaign only the temperature probes were used. Humidity
data were used as control-parameter, to check that relative humidity didn’t have significant variation between scenarios. The CO2 detectors were installed for the future use
of the prototype as a real office, data for these sensors were not collected as no source of CO2 were present in the room during the experiments.

Fig. 7. Outside dry-bulb temperatures during the experiment, from a typical year, and future scenarios in 2050 (A1 B − A1–B2). The comparison between the recorded data,
the TMY and the future IPCC scenarios is set only on the summer period.

age is in the first quartile suggests an unusually cool season but not in Fig. 7, the IPCC projections for 2050 generally indicate warmer
an extreme one. A comparison with the climatic projections sug- average future summers or high temperature variability (both in
gested by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [66] has the case of scenario A2), underlining the importance of prevent-
been done to understand the future temperature trends. As shown
288 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292

Fig. 8. External temperature and Indoor temperatures for the high and low inertia rooms, plotted against time.

Table 5 of the LI-room curve shows a wider temperature drift, i.e., the
Maximum and Minimum external temperatures recorded during the experiment.
higher temperature instability associated with low TI levels. The
Date Minimum temperature [◦ C] Maximum temperature [◦ C] daily temperatures in the LI room increase from day 1 to day 2 in
10-08-2016 9.6 17.5 each scenario, indicating that the heat stored during the day in the
11-08-2016 6.8 18.2 building fabric might not be discharged completely due to an insuf-
12-08-2016 12.5 21.7 ficient air flow rate. Looking at the worst scenarios (scenario2 and
13-08-2016 11 26.1 scenario3, where no night ventilation is used), the TI level achieved
14-08-2016 13.6 27.6
with CEBs directly in contact with indoor air is demonstrated to be
15-08-2016 14.6 27.5
16-08-2016 15.2 27 enough to serve as heat storage for several days before losing its
17-08-2016 13.9 26 ability to reduce internal overheating.
18-08-2016 15.1 20.7 Table 6 shows that the temperature in the HI room is more sta-
19-08-2016 14.1 23.7
ble, with a smaller daily excursion (from the mean) than the LI
20-08-2016 15.7 19.1
21-08-2016 13.6 18.5 room. The daily temperature shift inside the LI room can rise up
to 4.4 ◦ C, while that of the HI room is a maximum 3.1 ◦ C. TI influ-
ences the thermal behaviour most during the heat stress period,
ing overheating for those buildings which will still be operative in where the temperatures are up to 3 ◦ C less than in the LI room. The
2050. TI enhances the resilience of the indoor environment to increasing
temperatures, smoothing heat peaks and contributing to thermal
3.2. Effects of thermal inertia on indoor temperatures stability. Avoiding large temperature drifts is essential to keeping
indoor users comfortable and, therefore, TI can be a good strategy
Fig. 8 shows the internal and external temperatures recorded to assure thermal comfort and decrease thermal stress in offices.
during the experiment, while Table 5 shows the daily maximum Fig. 9 shows hourly indoor-outdoor temperature pairs. The
and minimum temperature logged for each room. Plotted values are wider vertical dispersion of points in the LI plot, in all scenarios,
hourly averages. The LI room is warmer in each scenario and shows indicates its sensitivity to outdoor temperatures. That is, the same
a higher daily variation. The temperature difference between the range of outdoor temperatures as is seen in the HI plot causes a
two rooms increases during the day and decreases during the night. higher range of variability in the LI plot. The variability of indoor
Considering the different scenarios, the LI room is more sensitive temperature for each scenario in the LI room is always at least 2 ◦ C.
when no night ventilation strategy is applied, i.e., scenario 3. Scenario6, with no ventilation at all, and scenario4, with mechanical
When night natural ventilation is used (scenario2 and scenario5), ventilation always on, are the most critical.
the low external temperature and the high air change rate allow
a consistent decrease in indoor temperatures in both the rooms,
reducing the differences between the two. The visibly higher slope
 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292 289

Table 6
Indoor temperatures recorded during each scenario: maximum, minimum, daily temperature drift and difference between the two rooms.

Scenario/day max Tindoor (maxTLI -maxTHI ) min Tindoor (minTLI -minTHI ) (maxTLI -minTLI ) (maxTHI -minTHI )

LI HI LI HI
1 10-08-16 24.5 23.4 1.1 23.0 22.0 1.0 1.5 1.4
11-08-16 24.3 23.1 1.2 22.0 21.6 0.4 2.3 1.5
2 12-08-16 24.4 23.1 1.3 20.6 20.3 0.3 3.8 2.8
13-08-16 25.0 23.6 1.4 20.6 20.5 0.3 4.4 3.1
3 14-08-16 26.9 24.8 2.1 23.9 22.7 1.2 3.0 2.1
15-08-16 28.3 25.9 2.4 25.6 24.0 1.6 2.7 1.9
4 16-08-16 29.6 26.6 3.0 26.4 24.8 1.6 3.1 2.0
17-08-16 29.6 27.2 2.4 26.9 25.4 1.5 2.7 1.8
5 18-08-16 28.0 26.5 1.5 24.8 24.2 0.6 3.2 2.3
19-08-16 27.5 26.2 1.3 23.6 23.4 0.2 3.9 2.8
6 20-08-16 26.9 25.8 1.1 24.4 23.9 0.5 2.5 1.9
21-08-16 28.7 26.9 1.8 24.6 24.3 0.3 4.1 2.6

Bold value indicates highest value.

Fig. 9. Indoor temperatures in the high [left] and low [right] inertia rooms against external temperatures.

3.3. Effects of thermal inertia on surface temperatures
During construction, sensors were placed on the interfaces of
material layers comprising the walls. This enables us to monitor
the interface temperatures through the walls thermal to better
delineate the contribution of CEBs to the stability of indoor temper-
atures. Results show the importance of the massive layer directly in
contact with the indoor air in smoothing the temperatures peaks.
Fig. 10 shows the maximum and minimum temperatures
reached for each layer in the six scenarios. Scenario1 and scenario2
have high temperature at the interfaces A and G, due to the over-
heating effects of dark claddings. At the beginning the sensors were
placed in direct contact with the external surface. However, after
the first few days, they were detached and repositioned to measure
the temperature of the first air layer close to the external surface
(distance approx. 10 mm) to avoid the overheating of the sensors
during the experimental campaign.
Considering instead the overall results of the two rooms, there
is a clear difference between the thermal profiles of the two types
of envelope. LI room has broader differences between external and
internal temperatures, up to 6 ◦ C, showing its higher sensitivity to
external temperatures influence.
Scenarios where natural ventilation was applied register higher
thermal variability, due to increased airflow. The relatively smaller
variation in temperatures on the interfaces of the CEBs wall (points
B and C) shows that having thermal mass in contact with the indoor
air helps maintain a stable indoor temperature. That is, the CEBs
store enough heat during the day, and discharge a sufficient portion
of it at night, to significantly dampen external temperature swings.
A similar effect is achieved by insulation if the internal heat gains
are consistent and always on (i.e., HVAC).
3.4. Effects of thermal inertia on thermal comfort
Local thermal comfort has been assessed per SIA 180:2014 [54].
The norm gives specific boundaries to evaluate thermal comfort:
operative temperatures, calculated by 3), of every occupied hour
should fall into the confidential interval identified by the running
mean of external temperatures. The running outdoor mean tem-
perature [56] is defined as the 48-h average external temperature:
1 
N−1
rm (t) = · e (t − j) (3)
N
j=0
where, rm (t) is the moving average temperature at time t = H,
e (t − j) is the external temperature during the hour (t − j), and
N is the number of hours considered (48).
In European Norms [67,56], there is a difference in the accept-
ability threshold for naturally or mechanically cooled buildings,
represented in Fig. 11 by the grey and the red boundaries respec-
tively. In our case study, the scenarios are distinguished by the type
of ventilation applied during the occupied hours, so night strate-
gies do not influence the categorization. Scenario1, scenario2, and
scenario3 are mechanically ventilated and should fall into the grey
boundaries; Scenario4, scenario5, and scenario6 are not ventilated
during the day and should fall inside the red boundaries.
290 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292

Fig. 10. Maximum and minimum surface temperatures recorded for each scenario. Values from the High Inertia room are in light blue and from Low Inertia room in grey.
Description of the layers: A-external surface HI, B-interface wooden structure and CEB, C-CEB surface, D-first indoor air layer HI; E-first indoor air layer LI, F-wooden structure
surface (indoor side), G-external surface. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 11. Indoor temperature plotted against external moving average, High Inertia room (left) and Low Inertia room (right). Comfort boundaries are in grey for the
mechanically-ventilated scenario, and in red for the naturally-ventilated scenario. The lower bound of the naturally ventilated range (red) is coincident with the lower
bound of the mechanically ventilated range (grey). (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 11 shows the results for the comfort assessment of the LI
and HI rooms. Comfort graphs validate the results highlighted from
the thermal assessments: TI improves the building’s reactions to
critical situations. For the HI room, all of the occupied hours are
inside the appropriate comfort domain. Considering all scenarios,
only 10 h are outside the grey boundaries. Using the mechanically-
ventilated limits implies not considering the possibility of adaptive
behaviour [68], though in scenarios 1–3 this is theoretically possi-
ble. The upshot is that only 3.4% of the hours in the high TI room
are outside the more restrictive comfort domain, but 100% of them
fall into the comfort zone. The LI room, predictably, shows more
variability, with 7% occupied hours outside the comfort range (not
acceptable by SIA 180:2014 [54]). Scenario4 is the most critical,
with all the hours outside the comfort zone. Scenario5 has 48%
of discomfort hours, scenario6 almost 32% and scenario3 29%. The
most critical scenarios are those without any day ventilation, which
means that the room is overheated by the internal gains and the low
TI level cannot smooth the temperatures peaks. This is a particular
concern for office and commercial buildings, characterized by high
internal gains and lightweight construction styles.
4. Discussion and conclusions
The main objective of the research was to define the TI cooling
potential of a Compressed Earth Bricks (CEBs) wall, responding to
the lack of information on in-situ experiment aimed at the quan-
tification of CEB contribution in preventing overheating in offices
in regard to different ventilative strategies. The results confirm the
importance of coupling TI in direct contact with the indoor envi-
ronment and natural ventilation, defining the thermal behaviour
of compressed earth bricks and their potential as mean to reduce
overheating in offices. The novelty of the work lies in the quantifi-
cation of this potential when compared to lightweight construction
in continental climate. CEBs walls can reduce internal temperatures
up to almost 3 ◦ C degrees, maintaining comfortable indoor ambient
temperatures. Night (natural) ventilation is the most appropri-
ate strategy to enhance the discharging of heat stored from high
(daytime) internal gains, e.g., in offices. High TI level can help to
significantly reduce the overheating risk even in critical situations,
when ventilation is inadequate or even non-existent. Lightweight
constructions with insufficient TI level, in fact, have 7–12 times
 A. Brambilla, T. Jusselme / Energy and Buildings 156 (2017) 281–292
more hours outside the comfort range, with internal heat peaks
of almost 29.6 ◦ C (Fig. 11). In conclusion, thermal inertia provided
by CEB and night natural ventilation are the most suitable cooling
strategies for passively keeping comfortable thermal environment;
their application helps to prevent overheating reducing the carbon
footprint of the building.
The analysis is done in the framework of the smart living lab
research program [22]), which aims at the definition of design
guidelines for a future low-carbon building. The high potential in
reducing overheating has been evaluated comparing a lightweight
and a heavyweight construction. The latter is represented by a
wooden-structure, as this typology is gaining importance in the
last years due to the low-carbon policies promoted by the Swiss
Government [69]. The analysis compared two rooms characterized
by different TI levels, but with the same level of insulation (from
the outside 180 mm of polyurethane) resulting in a high thermal
resistant envelope. Envelopes with maximized resistance act as
thermal shield for the indoor environment, minimizing the ther-
mal exchange with the outdoor. However, in high internal heat
load buildings, such as offices, this feature can easily bring to over-
heating during summer. The heat produced indoor, in fact, can’t be
released to the outside, increasing the internal temperatures up to
the discomfort zone. For this reason, highly insulated envelope in
continental climates (such as Switzerland), should always encom-
pass a dynamic thermal assessment to optimize the TI properties
of the envelope and assure the heat storage capacity to prevent
overheating issue.
Accordingly, defining the possible benefits of TI is essential to
meet the comfort and energy efficiency goals. The relevance of CEBs
in the smart living lab framework has been already demonstrated
from the life cycle point of view [24]. In the analysis CEBs have been
integrated as an additional internal layer, rather than a structural
element. In this way it is possible to avoid the structural limita-
tions of the material in relation to the seismic regulations [32].
Moreover, the displacement of TI as layer in direct contact with the
internal indoor maximizes its influences, optimizing at the same
time the thickness and quantity of material necessary to activate
the flywheel effects [70]. Earth, as porous materials, has multiple
benefits also on the building’s hygrothermal behaviour, in fact it
absorbs and balances the possible moisture daily difference and
it stabilizes the indoor relative humidity, contributing to a better
indoor environment [71]. On the other hand, a limitation is repre-
sented by the structural implications of an additional layer of CEBs.
In the analysis CEBs influences are considered only on TI, overlook-
ing the effects on the building’s structures. Future investigations
will be focused on the structural feasibility of adding CEBs to an
office building with the characteristic of the smart living lab case
study from an LCA point of view, including in the embodied impacts
the additional-structural requirements induced by the massive TI
layer.
The experiment lasted for almost one month, recording a tem-
perature range of almost 20 ◦ C. However, any hot spells were
noted. Cumulative overheating risk is often associated to pro-
longed hot spells, where the building might be unable to discharge
the heat of the previous days, increasing consequently the indoor
temperatures above the comfort threshold. Partially, this phe-
nomenon is visible in the lightweight room during the first four
scenarios, when external temperature was raising, although it
never went above 30 ◦ C. In the case study results is clearly vis-
ible that the LI room logged increasing temperatures over the
days, underlining the unstable indoor thermal behaviour, trans-
lated into highly variable temperatures. Projecting the results in
longer terms, cumulative overheating seems to be the first issue
related to lightweight construction, which might lead to uncom-
fortable indoor environment and health risk for the occupants.
TI reacts to the overheating risk mitigating the indoor temper-
291
ature and assuring a more stabilized indoor environment. Fig. 7
shows the external temperature average compared to the typi-
cal meteorological year and the future climate projections. The
temperature measured was slightly cooler than the TMY and signif-
icantly cooler respect the IPCC scenarios. However, the lightweight
room presented overheating conditions. This result highlights the
importance of a holistic design approach that could encompass
a great context variability, assuring resilience to increasing or
decreasing temperatures. The experiment underlines an important
parameter that must be considered while designing the passive bio-
climatic strategy for a building: climate conditions might change
consistently from the standard typical weather file commonly used
for energy analysis during the design stage. Climate projections (i.e.,
model forecasts) for 2050 emphasizes the importance of designing
buildings capable of preventing overheating and TI is one mean
to reduce the risk and stabilize the indoor temperature. Consider-
ing this and the ambitious reductions in carbon dioxide emissions
promised by the Swiss government, materials with low environ-
mental impacts become important. The research presented tries
to address both these issues by characterizing the potential of
CEB, thermal inertia, and ventilation strategies in the case of Fri-
bourg. The study raises new questions on the applicability of this
strategy in a real office: on-going research is trying to enlarge the
analysis by considering performance over an entire year and bal-
ancing heating and cooling energy with the embodied implication
of TI.
Acknowledgments
The work presented in this paper has been funded by the State
of Fribourg and EPFL. We thank Cecile Nyffeler for her help and for
the valuable inputs in the discussion.
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