By enhancing the thermal properties of cement-based building materials, energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions related to space conditioning in buildings can be alleviated. This study aims to present cement-based composites reinforced by textile fibers for application in building and construction. Several lightweight coating mortars were produced by partially replacing the sand in the mix with different percentages of textile waste. Mechanical and thermal characterizations of the reinforced cementitious composites were performed. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of cementitious compounds decreased as the proportion of reinforcing material in the mixture increased. In terms of mechanical properties, the textile slightly reduced the compressive strength of cementitious mortar, while it improved the flexural strength. A numerical study was then performed to derive the actual impact of these reinforced materials on the thermal behavior of a building element using COMSOL Multiphysics. Numerous configurations of walls coated with different mortar mixtures were studied. The results showed that coating both sides of a building wall with 20 mm of textile-reinforced mortar reduced the internal temperature by 1.5 °C. Thus, the application of these thermally improved mortars as coating mortars appears to be a relevant solution to enhance the thermal performance of buildings.

Expanded polystyrene is gaining consensus within the scientific and technical communities as a viable and beneficial insulating material. In this context, the present work aims to evaluate numerically the efficiency of incorporating EPS in construction materials in two different methods. A heat transfer analysis using COMSOL multiphysics software was conducted to simulate the variation of the inner temperature of a hollow brick insulated by EPS, either by its incorporation in the facade coating mortar or its cavities. The results showed that coating the brick with reinforced mortar or filling its pores with EPS could improve the overall thermal performance. Therefore, the incorporation of EPS on building walls seems to be an adequate solution.