Energy Efficiency Optimization in Residential Buildings Using Thermal Insulation Blocks Case Study in Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

Thermal insulation blocks have recently been highly considered in hot weather countries -where temperature can reach high levels -according to their low thermal conductivity that can result in a considerable reduction in the demand for building HVAC systems energy and its related negative impacts to the surrounding environments. The paper concerns recognizing the capabilities of applying thermal insulation blocks in building envelopes in Cairo, Egypt to enhance whole-building performance and conserve environments. The study opted for making a comparative performance analysis on six types of building envelopes of a prototype residential building located in Cairo, Egypt by simulating the building model using building performance simulation software (Design Builder Software Ltd -V. 7.0.0.116 -Educational Version). Four use conventional bricks and blocks; the fifth type uses advanced light sand blocks. The sixth type uses thermal insulation blocks to detect the effects of using thermal insulation blocks on a building's thermal performance and energy consumption. The performance comparative analysis results referred to a huge amount of heat transfer from and to building interior spaces caused by building external walls in the conventional building envelopes that should be treated to improve building thermal performance; by using thermal insulation blocks study observes a reduction of heat transfer from 41.61% to 65.08% that results in a reduction of energy consumption from 4.27% to 13.32%. Because of the study approach, the study proves that using thermal insulation blocks in a building's envelope can enhance the building's thermal performance and thus reduce the building's energy consumption and related CO2 emissions, operating costs, environmental pollution, and other negative impacts on the surrounding environments. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to evaluate the proposed propositions further.