Frontiers of Architectural Research >

2012 , Vol. 1 >Issue 1: 23 - 33

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foar.2012.02.001

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Thermal upgrading of Hui-style vernacular dwellings in China using foam concrete

  • Xing Shi , 1 ,
  • Wei She 2 ,
  • Hailong Zhou 3 ,
  • Yunshen Zhang 2 ,
  • Fei Shi 1 ,
  • Wei Chen 1
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  • 1. Key Laboratory of Urban and Architectural Heritage Conservation, Ministry of Education, School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
  • 2. Key Laboratory of Urban and Architectural Heritage Conservation, Ministry of Education, School of Material Science and Technology, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China
  • 3. Shandong Institute of Architectural Design and Research, Shandong 250001, China

Received date: 24 Aug 2011

Accepted date: 24 Sep 2011

Published date: 05 Mar 2012

Copyright

2014 This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
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Abstract

Architectural heritage conservation is an important field in architectural research. The Hui-style vernacular dwelling is an essential architectural heritage of China. Its hollow wall system, with horsehead-like upper corners, is a distinct architectural feature that is worth preserving. However, the thermal performance of the hollow wall is relatively poor by today’s standard. The current study developed a novel approach, whereby foam concrete was used to fill the voids inside the hollow wall to improve its thermal resistance. This approach was deemed cost effective, easy to learn, and capable of preserving the architectural integrity of the wall. Different types of foam concrete were prepared and tested. Testing results showed that the material properties of foam concrete are suitable for thermally upgrading the hollow wall system. Climate chamber testing was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed thermal upgrading strategy. The testing results suggested that filling the voids with foam concrete can effectively improve the overall thermal resistance of the hollow wall system by 24%, which is almost equal to the overall thermal resistance when using the more expensive commercial inorganic stucco system.

Key words： Hui-style vernacular dwelling; Thermal upgrade; Foam concrete; Architectural heritage

Cite this article

Xing Shi , Wei She , Hailong Zhou , Yunshen Zhang , Fei Shi , Wei Chen . Thermal upgrading of Hui-style vernacular dwellings in China using foam concrete[J]. Frontiers of Architectural Research, 2012 , 1(1) : 23 -33 . DOI: 10.1016/j.foar.2012.02.001

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