EPS Insulation Research Articles

Innovative passive techniques and PCM integration in building envelopes for enhanced energy efficiency in desert regions

Rising energy demands in buildings for heating, cooling and operating appliances underscore the importance of implementing energy-efficient solutions. Passive cooling techniques provide a sustainable alternative to conventional, energy-intensive cooling systems, promising reduced energy consumption in buildings. Using a dynamic heat transfer model validated with ANSYS Fluent, this study examined three configurations: integrating phase change materials at the brick's centerline with cavities filled with air, EPS insulation, and emissivity coating. Additionally, the benefits of combining all three passive methods were evaluated. Results indicated that among the evaluated PCMs, capric acid demonstrated superior performance. While each passive method studied offers distinct advantages in enhancing thermal performance and achieving energy efficiency, assessing their combined effects revealed significant insights. Specifically, integrating capric acid at the brick's centerline, while simultaneously configuring EPS insulation in the upper cavities and emissivity coating in the lower cavities, yielded superior performance. This configuration significantly reduced inner surface temperature by approximately 6.6 °C and minimized heat flux by about 58.4 % compared to traditional bricks. Achieving energy savings of 56.24 %, this configuration shows potential to enhance both thermal comfort and energy efficiency in building applications.

Analyzing Passive Design Retrofits using Pareto Front Optimization to Reduce Operational Carbon in Commercial Laboratory Spaces

Buildings are one of the leading sources of carbon emissions in the world. Most of the carbon emissions are released during the operation phase of the building. It is essential for buildings to provide thermal and visual comfort for the users. In the case of existing buildings, it is necessary to offer retrofit solutions so that the operational carbon emissions can be reduced without compromising on the other essential factors. In this study a Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) of passive design strategies was conducted for a commercial laboratory in India situated in a moderate climate zone. The design variables considered for the study are wall and roof insulation, glazing material, window-wall ratio (WWR), depth of shading device and the number of shading devices used. The objective functions are: 1. reduced energy use intensity and operational carbon emissions, 2. increased thermal comfort hours and 3. increased daylight autonomy. Rhinoceros and grasshopper software along with Ladybug and Honeybee plug-ins were used for the study which resulted in 1296 iterations. MOO technique namely Pareto front optimization was used to optimize the objective functions. Out of 1296 solutions (excluding base case), 72 solutions were non-dominated. Two methods are described in the study to identify the recommendations for retrofit. The first method describes a Heuristic method of selection using Design Explorer recommending 5 good solutions. In the second method a factor is evolved to identify the 5 best solutions in sequential order. The overall study recommends the use of EPS insulation for the RCC roof, WWR of 20% on all sides, 3 horizontal shading devices of depth 0.75 m for all window openings. When compared with the base case scenario, this solution minimizes the EUI by 3.7%, maximizes average TCH by 106.6% and maximizes average DA by 66.9%. The overall operational carbon emissions are reduced by 7095.6 kgCO2.

Synthesis of biobased Phosphorus-Nitrogen-Silicon ceramizable flame retardant and its flame retardancy effects on EPS

The rising interest in eco-friendly flame retardants marks a notable trend in the industry. However, the challenge remains that most flame retardants, while achieving high flame retardant properties, struggle to balance environmental sustainability and resource utilization. This work delves into the green synthesis and mechanism of action of ceramizable flame retardants. Using phytic acid (PA) and urea (U) as raw materials, ionic complexation assembly in water, employing polydopamine (PDA) as an adhesive, to develop an environmentally friendly, bio-based synergistic flame retardant (PAU) is conducted. Building upon this groundwork, the addition of the ceramic filler kaolin (KL) and the fluxing agent sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) physically modifies the PAU, resulting in a novel eco-friendly, bio-based, ceramifiable flame retardant (PAUK). Employing the prepared PAUK through an effective surface coating technique, a lightweight and scratch-resistant flame-retardant expanded polystyrene insulation board (EPS-PAUK) is created. The best EPS-PAUK composite in our study exhibits an oxygen index of 52.5, achieves a V-0 UL-94 rating, and features excellent smoke suppression and compression strength up to 67.8 kPa, while nearly maintaining the lightweight characteristics of the EPS insulation boards. This bio-based, ceramifiable flame retardant system offers a new approach for producing lightweight, highly efficient flame-retardant and high-performance polymers.

Evaluating novel building products through a building design-oriented LCA approach: Example of VIPs in terrace applications

Abstract INTRODUCTION: The construction industry is considered conservative in adopting new products/technologies, and environmental characteristics are one of the most important features of novel solutions. In this context, our study aims to present a building design-oriented assessment of a novel building product by extending the functional unit scope and involving multiple realistic building design scenarios. The task will be performed using the example of vacuum insulation panels (VIPs), a superinsulation product that can be used in various building applications. The study will focus on terrace insulation applications, where VIPs are an attractive solution for building designers due to the possibility of barrier-free floor design. However, they lack environmental evaluation. METHOD: A life cycle assessment (LCA) analysis is performed on two hypothetical buildings located in Ljubljana (Slovenia) for the cradle-to-gate and operational energy life cycle stages (A1-A3 + B6 according to EN 15978). A whole-year dynamic thermal response simulation was executed using the Design Builder software. Five barrier-free terrace design scenarios that influence the embodied and operational carbon footprint (while maintaining the functional and architectural integrity of the building design) were examined. RESULTS: The study showed that although EPS insulation showed a smaller embodied carbon footprint on the product level, the building level analysis showed that using VIPs in terrace applications leads to favourable or comparable environmental impact. CONCLUSIONS: Building products can be evaluated on three functional unit levels: product, application and building. By extending the boundaries from the product/application level to the entire building level, the study provides an example of a building design-oriented approach to LCA. The complexity increases by upgrading the functional unit scope to the building level, while the results become more case-specific and less general. Ideally, a novel building product should show environmental superiority on all three levels. However, as there are almost countless design possibilities in buildings, environmental superiority (or inferiority) on the product level does not necessarily indicate superiority (or inferiority) on the building level.

Quality and quantity trade-offs in clear ice making

This paper is aimed at clear ice making. To this end, a purpose-built apparatus that controls the solidification rate was specially designed and constructed to assess the trade-offs between ice clearness (quality) and production rate (quantity). An image-based ice clearness evaluation technique was devised and adopted to compute a figure-of-merit for the ice quality. 30 ml ice cube samples were produced in a closed ice tray for either prescribed heat flux (650, 1300 and 1700 W m−2) or surface temperature (−4, −8 and −12 °C) at the bottom wall, while a 25 mm EPS insulation was adopted for top and lateral walls. The experiments were carried out using both tap and boiled water, whose initial amount of dissolved gas was monitored. The results pointed out the heat transfer and initial air concentration conditions that rule the quality and quantity trade-offs in clear ice making.

On site measurement and hygrothermal modelling of degraded ETICS facade with EPS and mineral wool fire breaks

External Thermal Insulation Composite System (ETICS) facades are widespread and cost-effective building solutions in many climates. However, they are frequently found to deteriorate prematurely. In addition to other possible defects, several buildings were found with horizontal cracks on the facade between every floor level. Because of the fire safety requirements of multi-storey buildings, EPS insulation has been divided by mineral wool fire breaks at each floor level. The service life of the system usually ends up with horizontal cracks appearing at the lower level of the wool belt. This study aimed to determine the damage mechanism. One deteriorated facade was opened to explore possible construction technology errors and specimen were analysed in the laboratory. Temperature and RH were measured in situ inside the walls at different positions. It turned out that built in moisture of concrete was still drying out after three and a half years. Moisture content of concrete was found to be between 0.046 to 0.063 m3/m3 behind EPS insulation and 0.047 to 0.074 m3/m3 behind MW insulation - slightly higher than hygrothemal model was predicting. A possible solution was proposed to alleviate the similar problem in the future with application of waterproofing membrane behind mineral wool.

A green flame retardant coating based on one-step aqueous complexation of phytic acid and urea for fabrication of lightweight and high toughness flame retardant EPS insulation board

Green flame retardants have drawn much attention because of their environmental friendliness. But for the high flame retardancy of flammable polymers, most existing green flame retardants are unsatisfactory, even the flame-retardant process can not achieve high efficiency and environmental protection. In this work, flame retardants and flame-retardant process are addressed in a two-pronged approach. An eco-friendly bio-based synergistic flame retardant (PAU) was synthesized based on phytic acid (PA) and urea (U) through simple complexation assembly in water. The designed flame retardant coating can be directly coated on the surface of any topological shape with polydopamine as an adhesive. Flame retardant expandable polystyrene (EPS-PAU) with light weight and high toughness is prepared with the designed PAU flame-retardant coating. The coated EPS plates exhibit V-0 UL-94 rating and 42.0 % of limited oxygen index and excellent smoke suppression. Moreover, the density of EPS-PAU is slightly increased only by 2.27 % on the basis of the neat EPS, and the hard shell formed using PDA as an adhesive layer is beneficial for the improvement of impact strength. This novel biomass-based PAU system provides a promising strategy for manufacturing polymer products with excellent flame retardancy, smoke inhibition and light weight.

Emission rates of bio-based building materials, a method description for qualifying and quantifying VOC emissions

Biobased insulation materials offer opportunities to use vapor-open building constructions. Such constructions allow direct interaction between the biobased material and the indoor environment. This interaction raises questions about indoor air quality concerning volatile organic compounds (VOCs). This study presents results for the VOC emissions from biobased materials. It consists of two parts: 1) qualification of VOC emissions (compounds) from several biobased and non-biobased building materials, and 2) quantification of VOC emissions (emission rate) from expanded cork (biobased), particle board (semi-biobased), and EPS insulation. By quantifying the emission rate, the exposure to the released VOC emissions at room temperature in a standardized room can be compared to health limit requirements. Gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) is used to derive the individual VOC emissions and the Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) from these materials. For qualification, two different sampling techniques are used in which temperature is introduced as a variable to investigate its effect on the type of compounds emitted. For quantification, the toluene equivalent approach is compared to the group equivalent approach. From the analyses it is concluded that temperature has an effect on the type of VOC compounds emitted from (biobased) materials. Results from the quantification indicate that expanded cork and particle board emit no harmful substances at a level that can affect human health. For EPS insulation, elevated levels of benzene were found to exceed healthy limits. The toluene equivalent approach for quantifying the emission, generally, underestimates the rate as compared to the more accurate group equivalent approach.

Application research of solar heating technology in rural buildings in Western Sichuan Plateau

Rural buildings in Western Sichuan Plateau mainly rely on traditional experience, which lacks professional knowledge guidance. Unreasonable peripheral protection structure design, extremely low thermal comfort and high heating energy consumption, backward indoor heating facilities such as simple stoves burning firewood or cow and sheep dung, they make the indoor environment very bad. In view of these problems existing in rural buildings in Western Sichuan Plateau, this paper selects the typical buildings in HARAMA village, Anqu Town, Western Hongyuan County, and carries out the thermal calculation of outer envelope structure and indoor thermal environment test in winter. According to the calculated data, the heat transfer coefficients of exterior walls and roof are 2.94 w/(m2 K) and 3.23 w/ (m2 K) respectively, and that of window is 4.7 w/(m2 K). The heat transfer coefficients of peripheral protective structure are far higher than the specification limit. The thermal environment test data shows that the two bedrooms BR1-1 and BR1-2 facing south on the first floor have a maximum temperature of 4.77 °C and a minimum temperature of 0.51 °C. The north-facing room on the first floor is uninhabited all year round, and the indoor temperature is BR1 The range of −3 is −2.61–0.62 °C. The residents of LR1 in the living room on the first floor use a simple earthen furnace for intermittent heating, and the indoor temperature is 3.25–5.36 °C. −0.03–1.26 °C and −0.05–1.36 °C, the indoor temperature of LR2 in the living room on the second floor is −0.05–1.27 °C, and the temperature of all rooms in the room is much lower than 10 °C. Combined with the characteristics of abundant solar energy resources in this area, it is proposed to design the south facing outer wall of the building as a solar heat collection and storage wall, the exterior walls and roofs in other directions are designed as EPS insulation board insulation structure, and the windows are designed as insulating glass insulation windows. At the same time, the solar heating building scheme with additional sunshine room is added to the south of the building. Finally, DeST-h software is used to simulate the indoor basic temperature of typical buildings and solar heating buildings and the energy consumption when the indoor temperature is 10 °C, 16 °C and 18 °C. The simulation results show that the indoor basic temperature of typical buildings is −1.92 °C∼2.11 °C, while the indoor basic temperature of solar heating buildings is above 10 °C, and the minimum temperature difference is about 11.7 °C higher than that of typical buildings. The minimum indoor basic temperature of additional sunshine room is close to the minimum indoor temperature, and the maximum temperature reaches 21.85 °C, which is much higher than that of other rooms. When the indoor temperature is 10 °C, 16 °C and 18 °C, the building heating energy consumption decreases from 25.4 w/m2, 29.4 w/m2 and 36.8 w/m2 to 0 w/m2, 6.88 w/m2 and 9.38 w/m2 respectively. The indoor thermal comfort of the solar heating building is significantly improved and the energy-saving effect is remarkable, which provides a good foundation for the direct use of solar heating design in this area.

Durability Analysis of Building Exterior Thermal Insulation System in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Area Based on ANSYS

External thermal insulation systems often have durability problems, including cracking, hollowing, and falling off, which seriously affect safety and energy-saving effects. Based on finite element theory and using ANSYS software, this paper studies the distribution law of the temperature field and temperature stress of the external thermal insulation system. It was found that, compared with an uninsulated wall, the temperature stress of the substrate in summer was reduced by 52.9%, and the temperature stress of the substrate in winter was reduced by 50.9%. The temperature stress is mainly concentrated in the middle position of the external wall insulation system, and the middle of the wall can appear as a hollow drum and fall off. When the temperature of the external wall surface is 60 °C, the maximum temperature stress of the insulation system is 2.46 MPa, compared with the external wall surface of 70 °C—a decrease of 22.2%; the maximum temperature stress on the substrate is 0.46 MPa—a decrease of 20.7%. When the temperature of the outer wall surface is 50 °C, the maximum temperature stress suffered by the insulation system is 1.75 MPa, compared with the outer wall surface of 70 °C—a decrease of 44.4%. Meanwhile, the maximum temperature stress suffered by the substrate is 0.34 MPa—a decrease of 41.4%. This paper investigates and numerically simulates the durability of external wall insulation systems for buildings in hot summer and cold winter regions, and studies the durability of EPS insulation, which can provide guidance for other insulation material design and durability studies.

Experimental investigation of longitudinal shear transfer in insulated concrete wall panels with notched insulation

Precast concrete sandwich panels are usually comprised of two concrete layers surrounding rigid insulation. The most commonly used insulation types are extruded (XPS) and expanded (EPS) polystyrene or polyisocyanurate (PIR). Studies have shown that walls with EPS insulation develop higher composite action than walls with XPS insulation because of EPS's surface roughness. In this study, notched insulation is investigated using double shear push-through tests on 24 specimens (18 notched and 6 un-notched). Specimens were constructed with X-shaped GFRP bar shear connectors . Test parameters include GFRP bar diameter (9.5 and 16.0 mm), insulation type (XPS, EPS, PIR), and notch type (trapezoidal, rectangular). Notches allow XPS to reach higher capacities since bond failure is mechanically prevented. On average, when the 9.5 mm connector was used with XPS, adding rectangular notches resulted in 37% and 50% increase in the connection proportional limit and peak load respectively, while trapezoidal notches gave lesser respective increases of 21% and 27%. These increases were not apparent in samples made with larger (16 mm) connectors since stiffer connectors attract more proportion of the load nor in samples with EPS or PIR insulation where the foam's surface roughness combined with stress concentrations at notches promoted diagonal shear failure. • Experimental push through investigation of insulated wall panels with rectangular and trapezoidal notches. • Using Digital Image Correlation (DIC) to measure wythe slip, notch effectiveness, and capturing failure modes. • Evaluating the stiffness degradation and residual deformation of panels under load-unload cycling.

Influences on the drying behavior of a concrete ceiling below a cold attic

The article describes the current state of a project examining the influences on the moisture distribution in cold attics above concrete ceilings of residential buildings. Considerable research has been done on moisture damages in cold attics, especially in Scandinavia and North America, focussing on spaces above wooden ceilings. The project (ongoing until Sept 2021) underlying the article deals with cold attics above concrete ceilings resting on masonry walls, a frequent variant in Austria. Research was triggered by a regional Austrian building industry association to shed light onto recent detrimental moisture accumulation in the wooden wall plate (= bearing for the rafters along the eaves) and in the two EPS insulation layers on top of the ceiling. Suspected reasons for the moisture problems and for the local moisture distribution are 1) a too small diffusion resistance of the vapour retarder covering the ceiling, 2) insufficient (natural) attic ventilation and 3) convection, e. g. in the gap between the polystyrene blocks. In order to rank these potential causes by influence and also to find a practical solution a two stage experimental approach was chosen: 1) A handy small scale replica (order of dimension: 1m) of the situation was exposed to the according indoor and outdoor climate in a climate chamber. Different vapour retarders on top of the ceiling were chosen. 2) A larger 1:1 replica has been erected as well but not yet delivered monitoring data. In parallel, a hygrothermic model taking convection into account was established and simulations carried out. The project will deliver a contribution to the Austrian standard on moisture safety 8110-2 on how to judge the moisture safety of joints via simulation.

단열 및 준불연 성능이 향상된 준불연 EPS단열재 개발

In order to save energy in buildings, the insulation standards of buildings are continuously strengthened, and since the fire accident in 2015, the required performance of fire safety of insulation materials has been strengthened. Accordingly, it was attempted to develop an EPS wall insulation with improved semi-non-combustible flame retardant performance and thermal insulation performance. In order to improve the flame retardant performance, the optimum final mixing ratio was derived according to the coating solution surface coating amount, ceramic input amount increase, expansion ratio adjustment, expanded graphite, vermiculite and borate ratio. The final blending ratio is a bead formed by adding 30% aluminum hydroxide to 50 times the ratio of the two beads. The coating blending ratio is EPS 100% with an additional content of an acrylic binder expanded graphite (300 times), expanded vermiculite 10%, and a flame retardant solution of 5% borate. It was mixed at a ratio of 100% of semi-non-flammable coating solution and passed by satisfying the performance of 0.033W/mK of thermal conductivity and suitable for cone calorimeter test. In order to solve the construction defects caused by the shrinkage of EPS insulation, a prototype was produced with an overlap protrusion design and a half-jaw structure design, and the half-jaw structure design was found to be superior.

Effect of the filling position and filling rate of the insulation material on the insulation performance of the hollow block

Since the self-insulation wall has the same service life as the building, the resources are saved, and the environmental pollution is reduced, so it has been widely used. In order to obtain the optimal filling position and filling rate of the composite self-insulation hollow block, the thermal insulation performance of the composite self-insulation hollow block was optimized. In this experiment, 6 groups of self-insulating block models with different filling positions and filling rates were constructed. A cold and hot test box was used to simulate the working state of 6 groups of composite self-insulation blocks in the continuous operation of air conditioning in cold areas of China in winter. Through comparative analysis: Filling the hollow block with EPS insulation material is conducive to improving the insulation performance of hollow brick, and the higher the EPS filling rate is, the better the insulation performance of the block is. At the same EPS filling rate, the closer EPS is to the inside of the heat box, the better the insulation effect of the wall will be. At the same EPS filling rate, the method of filling EPS on both sides of the cavity has the best insulation effect, which is conducive to saving insulation materials.

Energy-Saving Transformation Design of Existing Residential Buildings in Qinba Mountainous Areas

Through investigation, it is found that some existing buildings in Qinba Mountain have high energy consumption and poor indoor thermal comfort. The cost of demolishing and rebuilding is relatively high. Therefore, it is an important issue for the current urban residential development to study suitable local reconstruction strategies. Taking an old community in Hanzhong City of Qinba Mountain as an example, the field test of indoor and outdoor thermal environment in winter and summer was carried out for one house. The current situation of indoor thermal environment in Qinba mountain city buildings in winter and summer was analyzed. The environmental conditions are not ideal. This article uses DesignBuilder software to carry on the comprehensive transformation design to the wall of this existing building, the roof, the outer window and so on, and carries on the simulation analysis to its indoor thermal environment, the result shows that the enclosing structure has a greater influence on the thermal environment of the local building; the transformation model was obtained: 30mm EPS insulation layer was added to the wall, 50mm EPS insulation layer was installed on the roof, and plastic window (6+13A+6) was used as the outer window. After the renovation, the indoor temperature was increased by 11%-21%. This result can provide a certain theoretical reference for the energy-saving reconstruction of the existing residential houses in the Qinba Mountains.

Laboratory study on hygrothermal behavior of three external thermal insulation systems

This work focuses on the hygrothermal behavior of three external thermal insulation systems: one ETICS including EPS insulation and two ventilated cladding systems including either mineral or biobased insulation. These systems were applied on a rendered hollow concrete wall and tested simultaneously between two climatic chambers. Thermocouples, humidity sensors and heat flux sensors allow investigating the hygrothermal behavior of the retrofitted wall at different stages: just after the application of insulations systems, during safe and critical use. The measured data are compared to numerical results obtained by solving a heat and moisture transfer model.Results highlight the key role of adhesive on ETICS, which provides a significant moisture source during the application and forms an additional moisture transfer resistance within the wall. Results on ventilated cladding systems show that using biobased insulation may delay and even prevent the risk of interstitial condensation. The comparison between numerical and experimental results is satisfying for temperature and heat flow density, but underline the sensitivity of relative humidity to the sorption capacity of hygroscopic building materials. In addition, the systems design has a great influence on the condensation risks.

Thermal insulation of roofs by using multiple air gaps separated by insulating layers of low infrared emissivity

In recent work we have demonstrated the ability of a new thermal insulation design based on creating air cavities between parallel layers of insulation material with a low infrared emissivity (Expanded Polystyrene, 0.6) and the multimodal heat transfer involved (conduction, convection, and radiation) was modeled for walls. Now, this modeling is developed for roofs, regarding the different heat convection mechanisms involved in both slender air cavities, the vertical (walls) and horizontal (roofs) ones. Another difference is that the air convection is null in a top-heated cavity (roofs in summer) meanwhile this mechanism is active in a bottom-heated cavity (roofs in winter) and so, the optimized design is different in both cases. We studied two designs based on multiple EPS layers of 1 cm thickness, namely: EPSW, which takes advantage of the low emissivity of the white EPS (0.6); and EPSF, which adds an aluminum foil of very-low emissivity (0.04) to each EPS layer. Considering roofs in winter, the EPSW design achieves thermal transmittances ranging from 0.447 W/(m2·K) to 0.096 W/(m2·K) for 4 to 17 layers, respectively, obtaining material savings up to 53% compared to solid EPS insulation. On the other hand, the EPSF design leads to thermal transmittances ranging from 0.238 W/(m2·K) to 0.040 W/(m2·K) for 4 to 17 layers, respectively, obtaining material savings up to 81% regarding solid EPS insulation. For summer conditions, the improvement in insulation is limited by the presence of infrared radiation and very hot roof temperatures in warm climates. An intended thermal transmittance of 0.1 W/(m2·K) can be hardly achieved by using 14 layers of EPSW, whereas it can be obtained with just three EPSF layers, although it implies additional burdens in embodied energy and contaminated emissions to the atmosphere. Therefore, we conclude that the simplest EPSW design is suitable for cold climates meanwhile the EPSF design is preferred for warm climates.

A dynamic thermal response on thermal conductivity at different temperature and moisture levels of EPS insulation

In this work, the dynamic thermal effect of thermal conductivity, K-value, is investigated at different operating temperatures and moisture levels of polystyrene expanded insulation material (EPS) by using computational modelling of heat transport. In building energy analysis and assessment, the heat transfer through the building envelope usually considers a constant single K-value and neglects the effect of the moisture content within the insulation. In reality, the building envelope is subjected to the combined thermal and moisture gradients. Therefore, an accurate analysis requires a simultaneous calculation of both sensible and latent effects. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the dynamic thermal effect on the K-value of EPS by using the conduction finite difference (CondFD). The results of this research show a slight difference in the thermal conductivity value of EPS insulation at different operating temperatures for different densities of the material. However, a greater difference is observed at higher moisture contents compared with the dry sample when the K-value of the insulation is temperature dependent.

열교저감방식에 따른 진공단열패널이 적용된 벽체의 열교특성분석

Purpose: The insulation requirements for buildings are being strengthened to make zero energy mandatory. Vacuum insulation panel (VIP) has about 8~10 times better insulation performance than existing insulation and also maintains high insulation performance with a slimmer thickness. However, when VIP is installed on a building wall, thermal bridge occurs. Thermal bridges of VIP itself, thermal bridges due to air gaps between adjacent vacuum insulation panels, and thermal bridges with other building materials that make up the walls. Thermal bridges deteriorate the insulation performance of the building envelope. The purpose of this study is to compare and analyze the insulation performance by designing a wall with vacuum insulation panels and applying a method to improve the insulation performance degradation due to heat bridges. Method: In this paper, thermal bridge phenomenon of the wall was analyzed using Physibel TRISCO simulation program. The walls were designed for VIP encapsulated EPS insulation application walls. The parameters of thermal bridges reduction were set to air gsp seals between VIPs, application of thermal bridge fastener and both. A total of 4 cases were designed. Result: Based on the simulation results thermal bridge effect for wall with encapsulated VIP reduced by 5.2% for Case 1, 7.2% for Case 2, and 13.6% for Case 3. As a result, it was confirmed that the airtight seal between VIPS and the type of connection material affect the thermal bridge of the wall. From the findings in this paper, it is recommended that necessary techniques are adopted to prevent deterioration of insulation performance primarily due to thermal bridges.

Simultaneous changes of temperature and moisture of thermal conductivity of EPS insulation material and its impact on building energy performance

Simultaneous changes of temperature and moisture of thermal conductivity of EPS insulation material and its impact on building energy performance