Reducing electric and thermal energy needs in buildings by using innovative envelope materials - Laboratory results of bio-composites embodying tomato plant stems

Abstract

The life style of building occupants is continuously arising towards conditions that are more comfortable involving, on turn, the growing of the electric energy consumptions for climatization purposes. This calls for the improvement of the efficiencies of equipment along with environmental performance of building materials. Laboratory analyses of samples of mixed materials, utilizing tomato stems harvested in Sicily and Cataluña, have been conducted Thermal conductance and mechanical properties have been detected for different rates of bio-component and inert materials. First results of the thermal properties seem to situate such bio-composites among the insulating building materials, for all the analyzed percentages of the presence of tomato stems. On the other hand, measurements regarding mechanical properties of the same samples suggest that further analyses are certainly required in order of getting definitive judgments concerning the optimal rate of tomato fibers.