The Mitigation Capacity of Three Construction Materials According to their Thermal Performance in Arid Zones. Case Study: Torreón, Coahuila

Abstract

The principal aim of this article is to present the results obtained from a study conducted in three modules on the following materials: Compressed Earth Block (CEB) as an alternative material, concrete block as a conventional material and adobe as a traditional material. We used hobo sensors to record surface temperatures and internal and external air temperatures. When analyzing the data, dynamic climatology was applied to the built space, defining the measurement period and representative episode and day for each heat situation. The results show that the traditional material is that which is best adapted to these climatic conditions and has the best mitigation capacity, while the alternative material performed better than the conventional. Adobe and CEB have a higher mitigation capacity and better thermal performance than concrete, showing the viability of their use in the area under study, thus taking advantage of the higher mitigation they offer in arid zones.