Thermal and economic evaluation of new insulation materials for building envelope based on date palm waste

Abstract

The objective of this work is to develop and characterize new bio-sourced insulation based on cardboard waste reinforced with date palm fibers derived from the Draa Tafilalet region., these insulation materials are destined for housing thermal insulation. The date palm represents the main agricultural activity of the Drâa Tafilalet region, but unfortunately its waste often not recycled. The latter can present a good source for formulating insulation materials which are efficient and safe compared to other conventional materials. At this stage, several insulation materials have been designed from five mass fractions of date palm fiber (DPF) (40%, 50%, 60%, 70% and 80%) mixed with cardboard as a binder between the fibers. Then, a highly insulated house was used to evaluate the thermal properties of these composites and determine their thermophysical properties. In addition, based on an economic study, we determined the payback period, the energy savings and the optimal insulation thicknesses (OIT). The results showed that our developed insulation materials are competitive with conventional insulation materials. In addition, they offer several environmental and economic advantages.