Analysis of the Energy and Environmental Sustainability of a Built Space System: The Case of Patte d’Oie University Campus in Ouagadougou

The aim of this study was to carry out a dynamic simulation of the energy and environmental performance of a built space system, with a view to assessing its energy and environmental class. The use of a simulation and modeling tool, supported by various methodological references, formed the basis of our approach. Adopting a systemic perspective, we described the structural and functional aspects of the systems making up built spaces, as well as the associated energy flows. Our approach was also based on a typology, taking into account typical days, structural and functional configurations at different scales and angles of observation. The analysis tool we developed in Java was applied to the built space system of the Patte d’Oie university campus in Ouagadougou. Annual electricity consumption was measured at 124387.34 kWh, closely aligned with the average annual electricity bill (125224.31 kWh), with a maximum relative deviation of 1%, followed by a carbon emission balance of 58337.66 kg eq CO2 per year. This validation confirmed the effectiveness of our tool. In addition, following the analysis of electricity consumption using our tool, the university campus was classified in energy class B and environmental class C. These results will be based on the emission factors of the energy mix of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) territory, with particular emphasis on Burkina Faso.

Numerical Modelling of Coupled Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Materials: Application to Cinder Block Bricks

In this work, we present numerical modelling of coupled heat and mass transfer within porous materials. Our study focuses on cinder block bricks generally used in building construction. The material is assumed to be placed in air. Moisture content and temperature have been chosen as the main transfer drivers and the equations governing these transfer drivers are based on the Luikov model. These equations are solved by an implicit finite difference scheme. A Fortran code associated with the Thomas algorithm was used to solve the equations. The results show that heat and mass transfer depend on the temperature of the air in contact with the material. As this air temperature rises, the temperature within the material increases, and more rapidly at the material surface. Also, thermal conductivity plays a very important role in the thermal conduction of building materials and influences heat and mass transfer in these materials. Materials with higher thermal conductivity diffuse more heat.

Impact of Improved Cookstoves on the Level of Household Exposure to CO and PM2.5 in Sub-Saharan Cities: The Case of the City of Ouagadougou

Air pollution is one of the major global threats to human health. In Burkina Faso, more than 80% of the population uses solid fuels as the main source of cooking energy. This paper reports a comparative study on the exposure of household to the carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM2.5) emitted by improved cookstoves (ICS) or traditional cookstoves (TCS). A cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Ouagadougou for 4 months during the rainy season (July to October) in households with an outdoor kitchen. The investigation involved 92 households where air pollutants, such as PM2.5 and CO were measured with Indoor Air Pollution Meters (IAP meter). These measurements were focused on the concentration levels of the pollutants during cooking. The results of this study show high levels of PM2.5 and CO for all type of stoves. Wood stoves led to higher PM2.5 and lower CO emissions than charcoal stoves. ICS reduce emissions of indoor air pollutants compared to TCS. This reduction raised up to 82% for PM2.5 and 37% for CO. The analysis of the data measured with the student test (t-test) shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the average values of the concentrations of the pollutants emitted with the TCS compared to ICS, except for CO emissions measured on multi-pot sizes cookstoves (MM). This study shows that the concentrations of indoor air pollutants are very high regardless of the type of cookstoves used. The CO exposure obtained varies from 119.10 to 362.72 μg/m3 for 15-minute and 10.83 - 55.11 μg/m3 for 1-hour exposure. The exposure in PM2.5 varies from 4762 to 16,257 μg/m3 for 15-minute and 106.63 to 1597 μg/m3 for 1-hour of exposure. It was noted that the CO exposure levels obtained over 15-minute of exposure are 1.36 to 4.15 times higher than the WHO recommendation and 1.8 times higher for an exposure time of one hour. This means that women in charge of cooking have a high risk of exposure to air pollutants.

Community Perception of Biodiversity Conservation Within Protected Areas:Case of Pendjari National Park,Benin

Commitment of local communities to protected areas is essential for conserving biodiversity.In Benin,various conservation models have been implemented for National Park management.This study,carried out around the Pendjari National Park (PNP),analyzed local people’s views on ongoing participatory management activities and assessed their perceptions towards biodiversity conservation within the park.We interviewed 164 residents living in

Influence of Construction Materials and Building Orientation on Building Thermal Load in Hot and Dry Tropical Climate

This paper is concerned with the determination of the thermal energy performances of individual houses built with ＂H＂ shape bricks in hot and dry tropical climate （different cities of Burkina Faso and the city of Bamako in Mali）. The bricks＇ matrices include three void spaces which are filled during construction with either clay-grass mixture or with entirely clay matter. After measuring the diffusivity of the clay matter and cement bricks samples utilizing the Flash method, we determine the ＂H＂ shape bricks＇ thermal equivalent conductivity using the HEAT software. The house, modeled utilizing the TRNSYS software, reveals that, besides their economical and environmental advantages, houses constructed with ＂H＂ shape bricks filled with clay, show approximately the same energy consumption patterns as void cement bricks houses. On the other hand, houses built utilizing ＂H＂ shape bricks filled with clay-grass mixture, which have low thermal conductivity, show a reduced air conditioning load. We also study the influence of the building orientation on the energy consumption.

Potentials of an Eco-Friendly Composite in Hot-Dry Climate

This study aims to show the aptitude of a locally made composite for providing thermal comfort and mechanical resistance in buildings in hot-dry climates.The thermal characterization reveals that the thermal diffusivity of the studied material is lower than that of commonly used materials such as agglomerated and full cinderblocks and laterite blocks and therefore is a better insulating material.In addition,its thermal inertia is the highest compared to commonly used materials of agglomerated and full cinderblocks,laterite blocks and compressed earth blocks,which implies a longer time lag.On the basis of mechanical resistance,with a compression resistance of 3.61 MPa,the studied material meets the requirement of CRATerre and NBF 02-003(2009)as a material for construction of single-storey buildings.Therefore,this material,containing 1%Hibiscus sabdariffa fibers and compacted by vibration,is a suitable material for the walls of standing buildings and for thermal comfort in hot dry climates.

Comparative Study of the Thermal Comfort of Four Materials Type Used in the Construction of a Building

This research work consisted in making a comparative study of the thermal comfort of four materials types used in the construction of a building.A simulation of the building with the various materials on the KoZiBu software in reference and optimized situation was carried out.A study on the sensitive and air-conditioning loads as well as the curves of temperatures on a building of type F2 in situation of reference and in optimized situation was made on the one hand and the other hand a study on the same building without air-conditioning in reference and optimized situation.Finally,the analysis of the results favorizes the choice of the material having the best thermal comfort.The conclusions of these works show that the material that can give the best comfort and the most economics in terms of energy is the adobe which offers temperatures(301.40K or 28.40°C)and a good indoor thermal environment compared to BLT(blocks of cut laterite),BTC(blocks of compressed earth)and cinder block.Dwellings built with earthen materials offer a better indoor thermal environment than those built with modern construction materials,which are used more and more in the construction of houses in Burkina Faso.

Potential for Green Hydrogen Production from Biomass, Solar and Wind in Togo

Potential of green hydrogen producing from biomass, solar and wind in Togo has been performed. The availability of these three resources has been depicted with maps showing them per cantons in Togo, thus, by using the datasets from ESA Biomass Climate Change Initiative, the global solar atlas and the global wind atlas. The conversions rates used were: for solar resource, 3% of land was allocated for the analysis after removing the exclusions with a conversion rate of 52.5 kWh/kg of hydrogen;for biomass hydrogen, the conversion rate of 13.4 kg BS/kg H2 was assumed. Wind resources at 50 m above ground were not sufficient to evaluate the potential as it is lower than class 3 winds. QGIS version 3.6.4 and R version 4.0.4 were used. Results showed that biomass is the leading resource for producing green hydrogen from renewable energy resources;with good impact in these two cantons: Bassar, Gobe/ Eketo/Gbadi N’Kugna. However, this resource is still decreasing and in some cantons it is null.