A Comparison of Straw-Bale and Conventional Brick Buildings in View of Energy Efficiency and Environmental Performance

Abstract

In the past few years, traditional building materials experienced a kind of renaissance. This is in part due to the ecology considerations. Moreover, some traditional materials offer feasible and affordable alternatives to conventional materials. In this contribution, two real, recently erected buildings in Hungary (a conventional brick construction and a building with straw-bale walls) were used as the basis for an extensive comparison of energy and environmental performance. As these buildings are different in terms of geometry, size, and location, two corresponding virtual buildings were generated: The actual brick building was virtually recreated using straw-bales, whereas the straw-bale building was virtually recreated using brick. Thus, real and virtual buildings can be compared directly. Furthermore, two additional buildings were included in the analysis whose constructions include both brick and straw bale. Using both simplified and numeric methods, the heating demand of both real and virtual buildings were derived. Moreover, environmental performance indicators Global Warming Potential, Acidification Potential, and Primary Embodied Energy were calculated. The comparison results point to certain advantages of the straw-bale application in view of the buildings' ecological performance.