Highlights:Graphical/Tabular Abstract Effect of thermal insulation on annual building heating energy requirement, additional cost and carbon footprint Effect of thermal insulation on life-cycle cost and carbon footprint Cost and carbon footprint payback periods for the additional thermal insulation Thermal insulation analysis for 81 cities Figure A. Evaluation of building envelope insulation performance for 81 cities in TurkeyPurpose: Aim of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of additional envelope insulation investments planned at the early design stage of buildings in terms of heating requirement, cost and carbon footprint from the annual and life-cycle perspectives for 81 cities in Turkey.
Theory and Methods:In this study, the annual heating space requirement of the building is calculated according to the TS 825-Turkish Thermal Insulation Standard methodology. For thermal insulation analysis, three different insulation design alternatives are created for a case study building for 81 cities in Turkey: (i) the uninsulated building, (ii) the building insulated according to minimum requirements of TS 825-2008 version and (iii) the building insulated according to minimum requirements of TS 825-2013 version. The effectiveness of the thermal insulation improvements in the building are investigated in three scenarios: (i) from the uninsulated to the insulated according to TS 825/2008, (ii) from the uninsulated to the insulated according to TS 825/2013 and (iii) from the insulated according to TS 825/2008 to the insulated according to TS 825/2013. For each city, the effectiveness of the improvements are assessed in terms of annual energy savings, life-cycle cost savings and life-cycle carbon footprint savings. Moreover, for each scenario, cost and carbon footprint payback periods are also analyzed.
Results:Analyzes have shown that insulations based on the standard provide improvements of up to 75% for annual heating energy, 70% for life-cycle cost, and 73% for life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions for the uninsulated building. Moreover, payback periods are under 7 years for the cost and under 2 years for the greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, increasing the insulation thickness of already insulated buildings results in limited improvement of the energy efficiency, life-cycle cost and life-cycle carbon footprint.
Conclusion:Thermal insulation is an efficient solution for improving building energy efficiency, life-cycle cost and lifecycle carbon footprint. Considering its marginal efficiency, thermal insulation of the buildings should be incentivized to increase passive energy efficiency for the buildings. Short-term analysis •Annual energy s avings •Additional investment •Additional ca rbon footprint Long-term analysis •Li fe-cycle cost savings •Li fe-cycle ca rbon footprint savings Integrated analysis •Cos t payback period •Carbon footprint payback period Uninsulated building Insulated building according to TS 825/2008 Insulated building according to TS 825/2013 Ö N E Ç I K A N L A R Isı y...
