Comparative Analysis on Thermal Properties of Traditional and Present-Age Rural Dwellings' External Walls Located in Submontane Regions of Mazandaran Province

Abstract

Reducing energy consumption in residential and nonresidential buildings is one of the main challenges faced in moving toward a more sustainable future. This paper attempts to analyze traditional and present-age rural dwellings' external walls located in submontane areas of Mazandaran province as a case study. To assess the thermal properties of the walls, 30 samples of external walls of traditional vernacular dwellings and 30 samples of external walls of present-age dwellings were considered and the thermal properties of the walls were calculated using a program designed in EXCEL software. Eventually, according to priority and significance of each thermal property, the comparison of the walls was performed based on the least and the most energy loss. The comparative analysis carried out in this study reveals that mudbrick walls in traditional vernacular dwellings showed a better efficiency than block (No. 1) walls in present-age dwellings in terms of volumetric specific heat, thermal admittance, decrement factor, surface factor, and time lag associated with decrement factor. Therefore, mudbrick walls or any type of wall with similar thermal properties can be the most appropriate type of external wall in the research area.