Burkina: the Nubian Vault to solve the problem of thermal comfort in housing (Thesis)

Building sustainable houses using banco bricks, without wood or sheet metal… The ancestral technique of the Nubian vault, several millennia old, was the center of interest of the doctoral student in physics applied Karim Toussakoé who convinced the jury of his ability to solve the problem of thermal comfort in housing in Burkina, with the added value of local building materials.

Karim Toussakoé defended on Saturday June 17, 2023 at the Joseph KI-Zerbo University in Ouagadougou, his unique doctoral thesis in applied physics, by proposing the Nubian Vault as an alternative that can help solve the problem of thermal comfort in the habitat in Burkina Faso and to promote local materials.

At the end of the study, “we managed to show that with the Nubian vault the temperature is stable inside. Comfort is also good here. This technique thus contributes to the reduction of energy consumption”, indicated Karim Toussakoé.

For him, this construction technique has advantages regarding thermal comfort and with it “we do not need a ventilation system even less air conditioning”.

The unique doctoral thesis in applied physics, specialty: energy/building physics, bears the theme: “Study of thermal comfort in the Nubian vault habitat in Burkina Faso”.

“The Nubian vault then becomes a technique that is both ancestral and innovative, due to its origins coupled with its ability to respond to many current and future challenges, in particular that of thermal comfort in the home”, indicated Karim Toussakoé.

According to him, the Nubian vault also makes it possible to fight against desertification.

He specified that this constructive technique contributes to the improvement of comfort and sanitation, to the strengthening of local economies and know-how, to eco-construction by promoting local materials and to adaptation to climate change.

Mr. Toussakoé added that studies have proven that the Nubian Vault can preserve perishable products like onions with a “zero rotting” rate.

For the applicant, this type of housing also responds to the shortage of housing in urban areas in Burkina Faso, by making it possible to counter “the dizzying rise in the price of building materials for ”modern housing”, which does not allow a large part of the population to have access to decent housing.

“Today we are witnessing more and more a certain standardization of constructions which consists of building ‘hard’ and installing a corrugated iron roof, neglecting local materials and completely ignoring climatic and environmental constraints”, said he pointed out.

This way of proceeding developed because of a lack of reliability in the processing of local materials.

“For the sake of efficiency, we should redirect our research effort to a traditional type of habitat. This type of habitat can respond to a large fraction of the market and whose cost per square meter will be clearly advantageous, he continued.

The Nubian vault is an ancient architectural process, coming from the upper Nile and historically unknown in other African regions.

This technique makes it possible to build buildings with vaulted roofs using local materials and skills.

It is a process that uses neither wood, which has become rare, nor sheet metal, which is expensive and unsuitable.

The specificities of this technique consist in the use of raw earth, an abundant raw material, mixed in the form of mortar and sun-dried bricks and in the absence of formwork for the frame of the vaulted part.

Mr. Toussakoé also said that research has proven that the Nubian vault technology is a construction model adapted to the Sahelian climate which must be popularized.

The jury chaired by Sié Kam, Full Professor at the Joseph KI-Zerbo University of Ouagadougou, recognized the topical, scientific and worthwhile work of the applicant and awarded him the degree of doctor of the University Joseph Ki-Zerbo from Ouagadougou, with very honorable mention.

Source: Burkina Information Agency