Abstract
•Thermophysical properties of building materials are reviewed.•The energy transfer and environmental risks in buildings are discussed.•Influence of moisture and temperature on performance of building materials is reviewed.•The effect of salt weathering on building materials is also addressed.•Feasibility of waste added bricks for energy saving and challenges are highlighted.
The growing gap between energy demand and supply and the risk of environmental pollution, especially in the developing countries due to population growth and subsequent progress in the construction industry, is a challenging issue of this era. Many studies have been carried out to elucidate the thermophysical properties of building materials in terms of energy transfer and mitigation of environmental risks. This review provides a brief insight into the past literature and ongoing research work on thermophysical properties of building materials to establish the intellectual context of the study. The thermophysical properties of the rocks under the influence of moisture and temperature are reviewed. The influence of salt weathering on building materials' physical and thermal properties is also an important issue to be addressed in building structures. As fired clay bricks undergo several physical and chemical changes during sintering, a review of the existing literature on the effect of the mineralogy of clay, sintering time, and temperature on the physical and thermal properties of the bricks is also presented in this article. The construction of eco-friendly and thermally insulated bricks by adding waste materials is also examined in depth in terms of energy saving capacity and mechanical strength, with a relation to the contemporary challenges.