Economic And Thermal Performance Of Thermostone In Qatar

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the performance characteristics of thermostone as a building material, and their comparison with those of hollow concrete blocks. Carrier Advanced Load Program (E20-II) was used to estimate the annual cooling load of a typical residential Qatari house. A number of combinations of walls and roofs for the house have been used, and the annual electrical energy to air-condition the model house for these combinations are estimated. Comparison of the results revealed that a house whose walls are built from thermostone blocks would consume 25 % to 30 % less electrical energy than one whose walls are built from hollow concrete blocks. An economic analysis has been performed for these combinations of roofs and walls. The results show that building with thermostone blocks can cut the annual cost of electricity by 28% to 34% as compared to building with hollow concrete blocks.