Performance Evaluation of Newly Developed Sustainable Blocks for Affordable Housing in Malaysia

The thermal design of affordable housing in Malaysia could be ineffective and resulting from this, the majority of their occupants are not satisfied with the thermal comfort levels provided. To overcome this issue of thermal performance of building envelope, the development of sustainable blocks has been done. The blocks have been developed using locally available sustainable waste materials. The materials utilized were mainly procured from agro-industrial waste (oil palm industry) and municipal waste (waste glass). The aim of the research was to provide a better performing material for low cost houses replacing the conventional red clay bricks. In this research, the physical, mechanical and thermal performance of the sustainable building blocks were examined and compared with existing conventional building blocks. The experimental findings revealed that the newly developed Sustainable blocks have better thermal performance as compared to conventional burnt clay bricks. However, the physico-mechanical performance complies with various standard practices thus proving to be a sustainable wall material.