Abstract
Thermal insulation plays an important role in achieving building efficiency. Many engineering investigations were carried out to determine the optimum insulation thickness. In this paper, a coupled heat and moisture transfer model is presented to calculate the annual energy consumption. Then, the lifecycle total cost is analyzed by the P1-P2 economic model. Based on lifecycle total cost analysis, the optimum insulation thickness is determined. Three representative cities, viz. Changsha, Chengdu and Shaoguan, are chosen as the sample cities. The optimum insulation thickness, lifecycle saving and payback period are estimated. The results show that the optimum thickness of extruded polystyrene (XPS) is between 0.053 and 0.069m and the optimum thickness of expanded polystyrene (EPS) is between 0.081 and 0.105m. The maximum lifecycle saving varies from 16.60 to 28.50$/m2 and the payback period varies from 1.89 to 2.56 years. EPS is more economical than XPS as insulation because of its lower lifecycle total cost.
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