Comparative analysis of thermal performance for precast panel systems with conventional and innovative insulation materials

Abstract

ABSTRACT Precast facades are one of the most popular technology solutions featuring high-quality implementation and installation. They consist of three layers, both the external and internal layers are concrete composite, where the core is a thermal insulation material. This study explores the thermal performance improvement of these locally manufactured panels and evaluates their effectiveness in supporting building sustainability and energy saving. The study is performed experimentally. Leca and Addipor aggregates were used as a replacement of mix aggregate to produce lightweight heat-insulating concrete. Compressive strength equals 15MPa were taken for both Leca and Addipor replacement ratio. The study simulates several sections of precast concrete panels using ANSYS. Proposed concrete models with traditional and innovative thermal insulation materials, which are Expanded Polystyrene Foam (EPS), Extruded Polystyrene Foam (XPS), Rigid polyurethane foam (PU) and Vacuum insulation panels (VIPs), were analyzed. In addition, a virtual room space was simulated thermally using the previous sections to perform thermal simulations, as rate of heat transfer and amount of energy savings. The use of polyurethane foam (PU) as a new thermal insulation material and vacuum insulation panels (VIP) as an innovative thermal insulation material helps to reduce energy consumption by a rate of 143% and 700% of conventional insulation materials (EPS), respectively. It achieves internal thermal comfort and supports building sustainability.