There is a trend in Thailand for the design of dwellings to move away from the traditional,
climate responsive architecture towards a style influenced by western architecture. This
trend means that buildings are less able to control the internal environment to comfortable
conditions without mechanical air conditioning. One technique for reducing the scale of air
conditioning is to apply thermal insulation in walls and roofs. This project is exploring the
potential for using agricultural waste as the material for this thermal insulation, a solution
which offers a reduction in resource use in addition to reducing energy consumed by air
conditioning, similar to the use in the UK of sheep fleece as a thermal insulation to reduce
heat loss. The criteria evaluated include the availability of agricultural waste materials, their
physical properties when transformed into a useable product, methods of production and
their environmental impacts. There are several possible materials including bagasse (the
waste from sugarcane production), rice hulls, coconut husk, corn stalk, durian peel, and
palm oil leaves. The results from preliminary evaluations have identified the three materials
offering greatest potential are bagasse, rice hulls and coconut coir.