Effects of Thermophysical Properties of Wall Materials on Energy Performance in an Active Building

Abstract

Abstract A high-performance building envelope is the prerequisite and foundation to a zero energy building. For the non-transparent part of envelope, the thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity are two thermophysical properties which can strongly influence the energy performance of the envelope. Although a lot of case studies have been performed on these two properties, the results could not give a comprehensive picture of the roles of thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity on the energy performance in an active building. In this work, a traversal study on the energy performance of a standard room with all potential wall materials was provided. These materials were differentiated by distinct thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity. It was revealed that the external wall requires a material with a low thermal conductivity and a high volumetric heat capacity, and the internal wall needs a material with a high volumetric heat capacity. These requirements for wall materials are consistent under various climate conditions.