Qualitative and quantitative optimization of thermal insulation materials: Insights from the market and energy codes

Abstract

Building energy efficiency is of great importance as buildings are associated with a large portion of overall energy consumption in the world. In present study, a comprehensive overview and analysis over conventional thermal insulation materials in buildings is presented based on different criteria such as thermal resistance, cost, moisture and fire resistance etc. Advantages and disadvantages of each insulation type are discussed, and general recommendations based on each building envelope type and system are given to optimize the insulation material qualitatively. To provide more practical solutions and assessment tools for majority of current developers and designers, the focus of this study is on conventional materials rather than new or future insulations, although new insulation materials are also briefly discussed. Moreover, to optimize the use of insulation quantitatively, energy analyses using COMcheck program were done based on two globally known energy conservation codes for a case-study high-rise building in New York City (Climate Zone 4) to better understand requirements of each code. A discussion is further provided to assist designers in choosing the most efficient energy code based on project specifications and for identifying the most influential assembly types for an optimized and more eco-efficient building envelope design.