Optimal thickness of various insulation materials for different temperature conditions and heat sources in terms of economic aspect

Abstract

The article presents the methodology for calculating the optimal insulation thickness that is related to the quality of energy supply and fuel prices. Assuming that the total cost following renovation is the sum of the costs of heating and thermal upgrading, it was shown that when calculating the optimal insulation thickness, the thermal resistance of the outer walls should be taken into account. Such calculations, in addition to the characteristics of the heat source, should be carried out taking into account local weather conditions. The study presents the results of such calculations for the building heated with gas and the air-source heat pump. The results of the investigations are referred to the mean climatic conditions recorded in the last 10 years. It was found that for thermal upgrading with the use of foamed polystyrene having the optimum thickness, total investment costs are almost the same, regardless of polystyrene thermal properties. The same also refers to energy costs. The article also provides sample calculations for plaster, the main ingredient of which is perlite. In the case of internal thermal upgrading of the historic buildings, such isolation is recommended in order to prevent moisture problems inside the envelope.

Lifecycle Cost Analysis of An Insulated Duct With An Air Gap

“…The LCC analysis estimates the optimum insulation thickness corresponding to maximum cost savings of the building envelope (Açıkkalp & Kandemir 2019;Axaopoulos et al 2019;Orzechowski & Orzechowski 2018), pipes (İlhan 2018;Martin-Du Pan et al 2019;Ucar 2018;187 Yin et al 2018), and ducts (Kumar et al 2019;Kumar et al 2018a;Kumar et al 2018b;Kumar et al 2018c;Soponpongpipat et al 2010;Yildiz & Ersöz 2016) considering the prevailing economic circumstances of a country (inflation and interest rate) on insulation investment and fuel billings (Huang et al 2019;Kumar et al 2019). In this analysis following assumption are made:…”

“…Therefore, this study introduced an air gap to decrease the insulation quantity required to reduce energy loss. The optimum insulation thickness corresponding to maximum cost savings of the building envelope (Açıkkalp & Kandemir 2019;Axaopoulos et al 2019;Orzechowski & Orzechowski 2018), pipes (İlhan 2018;Martin-Du Pan et al 2019;Ucar 2018;Yin et al 2018), and 154 ducts (Kumar et al 2019;Kumar et al 2018a;Kumar et al 2018b;Kumar et al 2018c, 155 Soponpongpipat et al 2010Yildiz & Ersöz 2016) was investigated by using LCC analysis. The 156 present research also conducts the LCC analysis to determine the impact of an air gap on 157 In this research, the design and operating parameters were collected from the HVAC duct installed in a pharmaceutical company, Jamshoro, Pakistan, as given in Table 1…”

Optimization of the Thermal Insulation Level of Residential Buildings in the Almaty Region of Kazakhstan

“…The optimal thickness of thermal insulation is determined by the following factors: type of the building, its use, size and structure, type of the insulated component (wall, floor, etc. ), climatic characteristics, type of the thermal insulation applied, insulation costs: materials and labour, type and manner of energy supply, fuel and operating prices [14]. The change in the value of money has a significant impact on the optimization process.…”

Life-cycle cost analysis of building wall and insulation materials

“…Given that different building construction materials have different thermal properties, there is a need to understand the optimum insulation thickness for each building construction material type. The economic insulation thickness corresponding to minimum LCC is termed as an optimum insulation thickness, which considers the present energy and insulation costs with respect to the inflation rate and interest rate over the expected lifetime of the building (Nematchoua et al, 2017; Orzechowski and Orzechowski, 2018).…”