QUALITY CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT AT THE CHIEF ALBERT LUTHULI PRIMARY SCHOOL
Today, and thanks to a decade of empirical research and analysis of real buildings
under real world conditions at the University
of Newcastle, Priority Research Centre for
Energy, various parametric studies and no
less than five thermal modelling studies
of different building typologies comprising
different wall construction types, the clay
brick industry has clear evidence that wall
construction types that include clay brick
will outperform comparable lightweight
walled buildings in South African climates.
The thermal mass inherent in clay bricks is
what brings the ‘X’ factor to the thermal
efficiency equation.
While research confirms insulation
in the walls is an important contributor
for achieving energy efficiency in 40m²
and 130m² house types in the colder
winter climate zones where insulated
cavity brick is the top performer, the
research has dispelled the notion that the
wall R-value is the all-important thermal
performance property.
As shown in Table 1, when it comes
to office/institutional type buildings solid
220mm double skin clay brick walls
(R0.45) and 270mm clay brick cavity walls
(R0.65) provide requisite thermal mass
and resistance to outperform SANS 204
compliant lightweight walling (R1.9 and R2.2)
in terms of day-time thermal efficiency.
The University of Pretoria study produced
some key findings that included:
1. “Solid clay brick masonry is the most
thermally and energy efficient walling
system considered for day-time or nonresidential occupancy buildings”
2. “Clay brick masonry cavity walls are
the most thermally and energy efficient
walling system considered for all day or
residential occupancy buildings”
3. “Light steel frame wall construction
specified in SANS 517 is not thermally
efficient and uses more heating and cooling
energy compared to clay brick masonry
cavity walls in all climatic regions”,
An important further finding of the
University of Pretoria study, that has a
correlation with the findings of the empirical
research at the University of Newcastle,
is that clay brick internal partition walls
enhance energy efficiency of buildings no
matter the external wall construction type.
LFF SCHOOL EASTERN CAPE – WALL PANEL SEPARATION AND SHABBY INTERNAL COMMUNAL SPACE
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Clay Brick