Optimal Thermal Insulation Thickness in Isolated Air-Conditioned Buildings and Economic Analysis

The removal building heat load and electrical power consumption by air conditioning system are proportional to the outside conditions and solar radiation intensity. Building construction materials has substantial effects on the transmission heat through outer walls, ceiling and glazing windows. Good thermal isolation for buildings is important to reduce the transmitted heat and consumed power. The buildings models are constructed from common materials with 0 - 16 cm of thermal insulation thickness in the outer walls and ceilings, and double-layers glazing windows. The building heat loads were calculated for two types of walls and ceiling with and without thermal insulation. The cooling load temperature difference method, CLTD, was used to estimate the building heat load during a 24-hour each day throughout spring, summer, autumn and winter seasons. The annual cooling degree-day, CDD was used to estimate the optimal thermal insulation thickness and payback period with including the solar radiation effect on the outer walls surfaces. The average saved energy percentage in summer, spring, autumn and winter are 35.5%, 32.8%, 33.2% and 30.7% respectively, and average yearly saved energy is about of 33.5%. The optimal thermal insulation thickness was obtained between 7 - 12 cm and payback period of 20 - 30 month for some Egyptian Cities according to the Latitude and annual degree-days.

Optimum insulation thickness of external walls by integrating indoor moisture buffering effect: a case study in the hot-summer-cold-winter zone of China

In the high-humidity, hot-summer-cold-winter(HSCW) zone of China, the moisture buffering effect in the envelope is found to be significant in optimum insulation thickness. However, few studies have considered the effects of indoor moisture buffering on the optimum insulation thickness and energy consumption. In this study, we considered the energy load of an exterior wall under moisture transfer from the outdoor to the indoor environment. An optimum insulation thickness was obtained by integrating the P1-P2model. A residential building was selected for the case study to verify the proposed method. Finally, a comparison was made with two other widely used methods, namely the transient heat transfer model(TH) and the coupled heat and moisture transfer model(CHM). The results indicated that the indoor moisture buffering effect on the optimum insulation thickness is 2.54 times greater than the moisture buffering effect in the envelope, and the two moisture buffering effects make opposing contributions to the optimum insulation thickness. Therefore, when TH or CHM was used without considering the indoor moisture buffering effect, the optimum insulation thickness of the southern wall under one air change per hour(1 ACH) and 100% normal heat source may be overestimated by 2.13% to 3. 59%, and the annual energy load on a single wall may be underestimated by 10.10% to 11.44%. The decrease of airtightness and the increase of indoor heat sources may result in a slight reduction of optimum insulation thickness. This study will enable professionals to consider the effects of moisture buffering on the design of insulation thickness.

One-Dimensional Study of Thermal Behavior of Typha Panel: Spectroscopy Characterization of Heat Exchange Coefficient on Front Face

Convective heat transfer coefficients, materializing exchanges between solid wall (here typha) and its environment, influence its behavior under excitation pulse. Temperature of wall and its density of flow vary with these coefficients according to its thickness (in depth). This study therefore focuses on the evaluation of convective heat transfer coefficient on front face and the optimal insulation thickness.