Abstract

Despite growing interest in sustainable construction materials, unfired clay bricks still exhibit limited thermal insulation performance. This study investigates the enhancement of perforated raw earth bricks through the integration of a bio-based phase change material (PCM) derived from coconut oil to improve thermal damping and heat storage capacity. A numerical analysis was conducted on several configurations, including a solid reference brick, a hollow brick with air-filled cavities, and bricks incorporating one, two, or three rows of PCM encapsulated in polylactic acid (PLA) tubes. Results show a progressive improvement in thermal performance with increasing PCM content showing that the three-row PCM configuration achieved the best dynamic thermal behavior. Thermal gradient and enthalpy analyses revealed the combined effects of the thermal conductivity of PLA and raw earth and the latent heat storage capacity of the PCM. Replacing 17 PCM tubes with a single container of equivalent volume further improved performance while reducing system complexity and cost, decreasing the decrement factor by nearly 50% compared with the three-row configuration. These findings demonstrate the potential of PCM-enhanced raw earth bricks for passive thermal regulation in sustainable buildings, although experimental validation remains necessary.

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