Assessment of Different Envelope Configurations via Optimization Analysis and Thermal Performance Indicators: A Case Study in a Tropical Climate

Jesús Araúz,Miguel Chen Austin,Dafni Mora

doi:10.3390/su14042013

Abstract

Passive solutions for more energy-efficient buildings are critical to improving our odds in the current energy crisis. This work focuses on assessing the thermal performance of different envelope construction layouts in a tropical climate through proposed indicators regarding the thermal mass degree (TMD) and insulation degree (ID). For this, a numerical study was performed for a reference building (RB) in Panama City and validated with the electricity consumption bills. Behavioral and sensitivity analyses were employed to identify critical heat gains and the most important envelope constructions, resulting in the layouts of the roof and external walls. Optimization analyses were performed to find adequate layouts to reduce the discomfort hours. Different roofs, external walls, internal partition layouts, and glazing types were evaluated. Results indicated that the adequate envelope configuration is a roof layout with low TMD and ID, along with wall layouts with high TMD and low ID.

Highlights

Energy represents an essential and transcendental element in the life of the human being
Based on the sensitivity analysis results, suggesting that the layout of the external walls influence the most, the lowest discomfort hours (DH) values were found at the maximum roof heat gains in solution 1 (Figure 7a), and, the heat gains through external walls are not the lowest values encountered in the optimization analysis
Other studies have analyzed the position of the insulation layer within the external walls, and others suggest that a complete envelope composition with a high insulation degree with low thermal mass content improves the thermal performance in tropical climates

Summary

Introduction

Energy represents an essential and transcendental element in the life of the human being. Fossil fuels were the first steps of civilization to reach a stage of socioeconomic stability due to their abundant presence on the planet, their ease of extraction, diversity of products that can be purchased, storage and transport capacity, and simple transformation into thermal and electrical energy and its available commercial scope for any social stratum or site of difficult access. Nations have noticed the negative effects of the excessive development of these technologies and electricity consumption by the world population, problems such as air pollution with gases that destroy the ozone layer, contamination of rivers and oceans with inorganic wastes with high concentrations of Nitrogen and Phosphorus that alter the natural life of rivers Global organizations such as the European Union (EU), the International Energy

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion