Thermal Inertia in Energy Efficient Building Envelopes

Book excerpt: The design and construction of the appropriate building envelope is one of the most effective ways for improving a building's thermal performance. Thermal Inertia in Energy Efficient Building Envelopes provides the optimal solutions, tools and methods for designing the energy efficient envelopes that will reduce energy consumption and achieve thermal comfort and low environmental impact. Thermal Inertia in Energy Efficient Building Envelopes provides experimental data, technical solutions and methods for quantifying energy consumption and comfort levels, also considering dynamic strategies such as thermal inertia and natural ventilation. Several type of envelopes and their optimal solutions are covered, including retrofit of existing envelopes, new solutions, passive systems such as ventilated facades and solar walls. The discussion also considers various climates (mild or extreme) and seasons, building typology, mode of use of the internal environment, heating profiles and cross-ventilation - Experimental investigations on real case studies, to explore in detail the behaviour of different envelopes - Laboratory tests on existing insulation to quantify the actual performances - Analytical simulations in dynamic conditions to extend the boundary conditions to other climates and usage profiles and to consider alternative insulation strategies - Evaluation of solutions sustainability through the quantification of environmental and economic impacts with LCA analysis; including global cost comparison between the different scenarios - Integrated evaluations between various aspects such as comfort, energy saving, and sustainability