Thermal performance analysis of building construction with insulated walls in summer days and nights

Abstract

In the present study, the insulation mechanism of building walls during the summer days and nights is investigated with a realistic approach to enhance their performance. A fiber layer, as a porous medium with air gaps, is used along the wall layers to decrease the energy loss. Meanwhile, the radiation heat flux variation during five days in a row has been considered for each side of the building, and it is tried to reach the optimum values for geometrical factors and find suitable insulation for each side of the building. A lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) based code is developed to simulate the actual chain of the heat transfer which consists of radiation, conduction, forced and natural convection combination within wall layers including fiber porous insulation. The results indicate that for the current insulation model, the effect of natural convection on the heat transfer is not negligible and the existence of the porous layer has caused a positive impact on the heat loss reduction by decreasing the circulation speed. Also, by using the optimum location and thickness for the insulation layer, it is showed that each side of the building has different rates of energy loss during a day, and for the appropriate insulation, they need to be evaluated separately.

Keywords

performance enhancement / building insulation / radiation/convection/conduction combination / lattice Boltzmann method (LBM)

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