Study of Construction Techniques and Hygro-Thermal Behavior of a Vernacular Earth Building in a Humid Tropical Climate

摘要

This study analyzes the know-how of local communities, to draw on techniques that make contemporary buildings more energy efficient. The impluvium hut in the locality of Enampore, Casamance, Southern Senegal, served as the object of study. The hut, including several rooms, is entirely built with earthen walls, earthen floor, earthen ceiling, covered by a double straw roof and its central courtyard. A room noted (L) and a semi-opened living space were chosen as spaces for hygro-thermal experimentation. The hottest average temperature obtained respectively in the room (L) and in the living space is 25.5˚C and 27˚C when outside is about 34˚C. The thermal amplitude inside room (L) is 0.88˚C, in semi-opened living space, is 2.6˚C and outside is 9.5˚C. With these results we can say that room (L) undergoes very low temperature variations and that there is no need to air-condition in the enclosure. The thermal amplitude makes it possible to see the influence of the earthen walls on the interior temperature and its regularity compared to the fluctuation of the external temperature. The thermal inertia of the building walls was characterized using also the time lag and the decrement factor. They was respectively 7.0 H and 0.093 for the room (L). With this result we can say that this material has a high thermal inertia. For humidity, it is high around 78.5% in the room (L), 66.0% at the semi-open living room, when it is 59.0% outside. Through this study, it is possible that the revalorization of vernacular architecture can be an alternative to reduce the energy consumption of buildings.