| Title |
Thermal Characteristics of South-facing Opaque Wall in Buildings |
| Abstract |
The present study aims at analyzing thermal performances of the south-facing opaque wall in residential building to promote energy conservation and to maintain indoor comfort level by thermal design of buildings.The experimental phase of the analysis is implemented by constructing 3 boxes, whose south-facing walls are manipulated to change the location and thickness of the insulation layer. Thermal masses of the walls in other orientations are negligible which consist of polystyrene and plywood. The south-facing walls have certain amount of thermal mass due to the bricks used in their construction and no glazing area. Measured data are analyzed by Frequency Domain Approach(BEVA method).Major findings are summarized as follows: 1) Improvements in thermal performances of the walls facing the south are different depending on the thickness of the insulation layer and the intensity of solar radiation. 2) The location of the insulation applied for the south-facing wall is very crucial rather than other direction-facing walls in determining the heating requirements during the winter. The results manifests that it is preferable to locate insulation at the interior side in south-facing opaque wall. 3) Heating requirement also vary with the thickness of the insulation layer. For the case where the insulation is placed in the middle, the case of 75mm-thick-insulation is not as effective as the case of 50mm-thick-insulation, even though more effective than the case of 25mm-thick-insulation for the energy conservation. 4) The thermal effects resulting from the differences in location and thickness of the insulation as well as in thermal mass are also subject to weather condition such as insolation and ambient temperature. The results obtained from the present study could be applied to improve the thermal performances of residential buildings. Forthermore, they could serve as guidelines to direct the concepts of architectural design method toward the passive design approach. |