Thermal Mass

This study focuses on the environmental performance of conventional wallingmaterials used in Nagpur region. The passive design strategy of using thermal mass has alsobeen considered to observe reduction incooling loads. The present work is to derive appropriate material specifications for construction of walls and to search for affordable and energy-efficient construction techniques suitable for Nagpur (Maharashtra) region, which falls under composite climatic zone [1]. An institutional building is considered for this study. A replica model of the same institutional building is created in simulation software (Design builder v4.2) to evaluate which building material could give best results for better indoor environment in minimum energy consumption. This research comes up with a comparative analysis of different walling materials with cavity wall and high-mass walls through simulations. The study deals with performance of a studio in School of Architecture and gives a brief to suggest the best possible building material for the mentioned region. The results indicate there is a scope to reduce cooling energy consumption without compromising thermal comfort by just changing the wall material. The study is relevant in order to come up with apt material for this region.

Electric appliances for cooling and lighting are responsible for most of the increase in electricity consumption in Karachi, Pakistan. This study aims to investigate the impact of passive energy efficiency measures (PEEMs) on the potential reduction of indoor temperature and cooling energy demand of an architectural campus building (ACB) in Karachi, Pakistan. PEEMs focus on the building envelope’s design and construction, which is a key factor of influence on a building’s cooling energy demand. The existing architectural campus building was modeled using the building information modeling (BIM) software Autodesk Revit. Data related to the electricity consumption for cooling, building masses, occupancy conditions, utility bills, energy use intensity, as well as space types, were collected and analyzed to develop a virtual ACB model. The utility bill data were used to calibrate the DesignBuilder and EnergyPlus base case models of the existing ACB. The cooling energy demand was compared...

As concomitants to developments and globalization, Indian modernism witnessed unprecedented socioeconomic and lifestyle benefits on the one hand, and adaptation to high-energy habitats and lifestyle, and subsequent degradation of the native habitats milieu, on the other. Unlike compact traditional buildings or occupants' lifestyle, modern buildings and its inhabitants generate much heat. House-2 in Delhi by Morphogenesis, conceptualized as a 'porous' object with adequate thermal mass, is a radical re-interpretation of haveli 1 typology to optimum plan forms to account for modern lifestyles and environmental imperatives. Thermal comfort is affected by the body's heat exchange with the climatic parameters, and engineering of conduction, convection, radiation of heat or cold through various effects of ventilation modes and air change rates, solar shading, and thermal mass envelopes are hypothesize to afford better indoor environment conditions, and thereby thermal comfort with low-energy. Solar Designer Ver.6 and Ecotect (2011) were used for analysis and simulations of the following cases: 1). House 2, As-built and light thermal mass with no shading, 2) 3 prototype rooms to check ventilation effects on glazing area, thermal mass, and insulation. The results are shown in 1) hourly indoor temperature fluctuation without airconditioning and Discomfort Index, 2) annual heating and cooling load in a year. The analysis shows that Flex Vent mode was more energy efficient than Normal conditions without ventilation. While thermal comfort was not fully afforded for during summer, passive design in House 2, as-built, perform better than light thermal mass, and hence improved energy efficiency. Hypothetical case analysis shows insulation was most effective in both summer and winter for the hypothesis cases.

This essay focuses in different parts of the buildings envelope. In order to understand the building envelope and how its efficiency can be measured, one must recognize and consider all the different parts and aspects that effect it; in this essay it is the thermal value of bricks and glasses, energy production capabilities of photovoltaic systems as opposed to clay bricks, daylighting and sun path utilization. The major parts to be considered are the roof, walls, fenestration, interaction with other parts of the building, as well as insulation capabilities. This essay focuses on the contrast between two specific building types; the John Molson building, located in downtown Montreal, with the BIPV/T (building integrated photovoltaic/ thermal) envelope design in comparison to the Le Faubourg building, with the red clay brick and fenestrated building envelope design, which is also located in downtown Montreal.

In this 1992 study, nine computerized design and analysis tools were compared for their capabilities at modeling cooling loads and seven different passive cooling strategies. Also, a test house was modeled using a rule-of-thumb method, a detailed hand calculation method on a computerized spreadsheet, and a computerized hourly thermal network analysis model.

This paper presents an integrative approach to the design and construction of sustainable architecture in general, and especially that for arid environments. This is done through a case study, built in a solar neighbourhood on the Negev Highlands, Israel, incorporating: medium weight envelope walls built of cellular concrete blocks; appropriate details to avoid thermal bridges; internal thermal mass and open space plan; and a number of passive devices. Monitoring results of the 200m2, two-storey house, show summer indoor daily maxima of 24-25ºC as opposed to ambient maxima of 30-35ºC, and 17-19ºC winter indoor daily minima, as opposed to ambient minima close to 0ºC. Extreme temperature differences of indoor air and surfaces remain within the range of 1.5ºC. The thermal behaviour of the house during extreme climatic events is also analyzed. The monitored results comply with those of the single zone model simulated with QUICK, used for optimization during early and advanced design stages. The paper also presents certain additions made after the monitoring period, such as a small collapsible greenhouse boosting heat gains, and a short description of appropriate landscaping.

Especially for commercial buildings in moderate climates, night-time ventilation seems to be a simple and energy-efficient approach to improve thermal comfort in summer. However, due to uncertainties in the prediction of thermal comfort in buildings with night-time ventilation, ...

A research study was conducted to investigate the summer thermal performance of different ventilated façades, by means of experimentally validated numerical simulation. Three ventilated configurations were tested: L, with a lightweight external layer, IM and EM with a massive cladding respectively in the inner and outer side of the air cavity. TRNSYS was used to simulate the thermal behaviour of the façades. Five increasing air speeds were imposed at the inlet (from 0.2m/s to 2m/s). Air temperature and heat flux trends, at different wall positions, were surveyed. The experimentation was carried out on a lightweight and hyper-insulated mock-up in Central Italy. The airflow rate at the inlet was controlled by means of pulse width modulation (PWM) controlled axial fans installed on top of the air gaps. Temperature, air velocity, and thermal flux measurements were collected to validate the model. Simulation results were later post-processed by means of linear regression analysis. As exp...

This paper reviewed related research works and developments on the traditional architectural element "mashrabiya" focusing on its history, design and structure, typology, and functions in hot climates. Moreover, the paper assessed the effect of the traditional mashrabiya on the indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort in a selected case study building. For this purpose, two similar rooms were investigated in a selected historic building with abundant mashrabiyas located in the Makkah Region, specifically in Old Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The field tests were conducted during a typical hot summer month with two different configurations. The study demonstrated that opening the mashrabiya allowed more airflow into the room during the day and reduced the indoor temperature by up to 2.4 °C as compared to the closed mashrabiya. Besides, the building envelope played an important role in preventing the high fluctuation of the indoor air temperature, where the fluctuation of the rooms air temperature ranged between 2.1 °C and 4.2 °C compared to the outdoor temperature which recorded a fluctuation between 9.4 °C and 16 °C. The data presented here can be used for the future development of the mashrabiya concept and the potential incorporation with passive cooling methods to improve its design according to the requirements of modern buildings in hot climates. Moreover, further studies and tests on mashrabiyas under different climatic conditions are required. Also, the different strategies or materials can be incorporated with mashrabiyas in order to improve its thermal performance.

A building physics supported development was undertaken for the new block of the University of Pécs, Medical School. During sketch design stage climate, lighting and energy simulations were applied to quantify energy optimization strategies. Simulation cases assess the impact of shading technologies, wall-window ratios and thermal masses on used thermal energy demand. Based on a previous study about visual and comfort performance, goal was to identify the highest energy efficiency rates with maximum investment cost savings. Besides best comfort results, the most optimal development represents 9% saving in used thermal energy, and they were proposed for further design.

During sketch design stage for the new block of the University of Pécs, Medical School comfort and lighting simulations were applied to quantify optimization strategies. Simulation cases about shading possibilities, façade glazing ratios and internal heat storage masses evaluate the impact of illumination, solar gains, loads and heat transmission on visual and thermal comfort. The goal was to select the most favorable comfort, coupled with maximum reduction of investment costs. Concepts represent 14% (shading), 10% (reduced wall-window ratio), 11% (slabs without suspended ceilings), and 17% (combined wall-window ratio and thermal mass) improvement in thermal comfort performance, and it was proposed for further design.

As concomitants to developments and globalization, Indian modernism witnessed unprecedented socio-economic and lifestyle benefits on the one hand, and adaptation to high-energy habitats and lifestyle, and subsequent degradation of the native habitats milieu, on the other. Unlike compact traditional buildings or occupants' lifestyle, modern buildings and its inhabitants generate much heat. House-2 in Delhi by Morphogenesis, conceptualized as a ‘porous’ object with adequate thermal mass, is a radical re-interpretation of haveli 1 typology to optimum plan forms to account for modern lifestyles and environmental imperatives. Thermal comfort is affected by the body’s heat exchange with the climatic parameters, and engineering of conduction, convection, radiation of heat or cold through various effects of ventilation modes and air change rates, solar shading, and thermal mass envelopes are hypothesize to afford better indoor environment conditions, and thereby thermal comfort with low...

In Thailand, traditional houses and public buildings were constructed from materials of low thermal mass. Windows and doors in such buildings are well shaded. Open windows, doors, and even gaps in the raised floor allow all interior spaces in a building to be ...

This paper reviewed related research works and developments on the traditional architectural element “mashrabiya” focusing on its history, design and structure, typology, and functions in hot climates. Moreover, the paper assessed the effect of the traditional mashrabiya on the indoor thermal environment and thermal comfort in a selected case study building. For this purpose, two similar rooms were investigated in a selected historic building with abundant mashrabiyas located in the Makkah Region, specifically in Old Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The field tests were conducted during a typical hot summer month with two different configurations. The study demonstrated that opening the mashrabiya allowed more airflow into the room during the day and reduced the indoor temperature by up to 2.4 °C as compared to the closed mashrabiya. Besides, the building envelope played an important role in preventing the high fluctuation of the indoor air temperature, where the fluctuation of the rooms air t...

A planar thin-film multijunction thermal converter (MJTC) developed for low-frequency application has been optimized by adding a thermal mass in the heater area to increase the time constant of the MJTC from 100 ms to 3 s and more. The thermal mass of silicon is left under the heater during the anisotropic etching process. This technique should substantially reduce the transfer difference at frequencies below 100 Hz.<<ETX>>

During sketch design stage for the new block of the University of Pécs, Medical School comfort and lighting simulations were applied to quantify optimization strategies. Simulation cases about shading possibilities, façade glazing ratios and internal heat storage masses evaluate the impact of illumination, solar gains, loads and heat transmission on visual and thermal comfort. The goal was to select the most favorable comfort, coupled with maximum reduction of investment costs. Concepts represent 14% (shading), 10% (reduced wall-window ratio), 11% (slabs without suspended ceilings) and 17% (combined wall-window ratio and thermal mass) improvement in thermal comfort performance, and it was proposed for further design.