Comparison of Thermal Performance of Different Earth Construction Techniques in a Warm–Humid Climate

Earth is one of the most commonly and widely used materials around the world. There exists a wide variety of earth construction techniques ranging from cob to compressed earth blocks. Previously, a certain technique of construction was developed and used based on the properties of soil and the climate of the location. Due to the gradual increase in popularity of earth as a building material in modern construction, most techniques are now widely used in all climate zones. These techniques vary from each other with respect to their densities; which causes variations in their thermal performance. Although this difference exists, there is a lack of studies on the variation of thermal performance between these different types of techniques. This study aims to analyze this variation in thermal performance in a warm and humid climate. Four buildings of different earth construction techniques [i.e., laterite, adobe, cob, and compressed stabilized earth block (CSEB)] were selected for investigating the wall’s impact on dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity of the space. The dry-bulb temperature and relative humidity within these buildings were measured for a period of one year and the statistical variance of these measured parameters in the different buildings was calculated. Variations in thermal performance were observed between the four selected earth construction techniques; significant being in relative humidity values in the winter months.