16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1

4 Thermal Insulation
Introduction
Thermal insulation reduces heat loss from buildings. It can be used in both new
buildings and for retrofit in existing buildings, and is usually a low cost solution.
Adding insulation can have several benefits:
Economy and energy conservation
- reduce the size of heating plant required
- reduce annual energy consumption (and therefore environmental pollutants)
Health, aesthetics and safety
- reduce the risk of condensation and consequent mould growth
Thermal comfort
- reduce the time to heat a room up
It can also reduce the effects of high external temperatures in summer (although this
depends on the amount of solar gains).
Insulating Materials
Basic mechanisms are:
reduction of conduction (contain gases, low density)
prevention of convection (weather stripping, cavity fill)
prevention of radiation (shiny surfaces, low emissivity coatings)
Types of insulator
rigid pre-formed blocks, e.g. aerated concrete blocks
flexible materials, e.g. fibreglass quilts used in loft insulation
loose fill materials, e.g. expanded polystyrene granules
materials formed on site, e.g. foamed polyurethane injected into cavity walls
reflective materials, e.g. . aluminium foil behind radiators on external walls
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
Properties of insulators
The choice of insulator depends on many factors:
level of insulation provided by the material
strength of rigidity requirements
moisture resistance
fire resistance
resistance to pests and fungi
compatibility with adjacent materials
safe to humans and the environment (note asbestos was used as an insulator until its
harmful effects were recognised).
Thermal conductivity (symbol: k; unit: W/mK )
Thermal conductivity is a measure of the rate at which heat is conducted through a
material. It is defined as the heat flow in watts across a thickness of 1m for a
temperature difference of 1
o
C and a surface area of 1m
2
.
Rate of heat flow
H
t
kA
d
= =
( )
1 2
where d is the thickness, A is the area and (
1
-
2
) is the temperature difference across
the material under test. Conductivities for common materials are:
Material Conductivity (W/mK)
Aluminium 160.0
Steel 50.0
Concrete (dense) 1.4
Glass 1.05
Brickwork 0.84
Softwood 0.13
Mineral wool 0.04
Polystyrene (EPS) 0.035
Foamed polyurethane board 0.025
Conductivity can vary with temperature and, particularly, moisture content.
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
Emissivity and absorptivity
These are properties of surfaces of materials relating to their radiant exchange with
other surfaces. A black body absorbs all radiation impinging on it; it is also a perfect
emitter: the closest approximation in practice is a small aperture in a highly insulated
constant temperature cavity. The emissivity and absorptivity of materials is related to
the ideal case of a black body. Values lie between 0 (no absorption or emission) and 1
(black body). Since they are ratios, they are dimensionless.
Emissivity is the fraction of energy radiated compared to that radiated by a black body
at the same temperature.
Absorptivity is the fraction of energy absorbed compared to that absorbed by a black
body at the same temperature.
At room temperatures, radiation frequencies are low and radiation exchange is
dominated by the materials emissivity. Short-wave radiation from the sun is at a much
higher frequency and material absorptivity determines how much radiation is absorbed:
the sun effectively acts as a black body at 6000K.
Material emissivity () absorptivity ()
Aluminium (polished) 0.05 0.2
Asphalt 0.95 0.9
Brick (dark) 0.9 0.6
Paint (white) 0.9 0.3
Paint (black) 0.9 0.9
Slate 0.9 0.9
Sky radiation

air

sky
<<
air
With clear conditions, radiant heat loss to the sky causes ground frost, icing on cars
etc.

sky
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
U-values - thermal transmittance
U-value or thermal transmittance or overall heat transfer coefficient is the overall
heat transfer rate under standard conditions through a particular section of
construction.
It is the rate of heat flow in watts through an area of 1m
2
for a temperature
difference across the structure of 1
o
C.
It includes conduction through solids, and convection and radiation through air
gaps in the construction and at the surfaces.
Units: W/m
2
K
Standard conditions enable comparisons of products of different manufacturers.
They include particular moisture contents and surface resistances.
Typical values U-value (W/m
2
K)
Solid brickwork, no insulation 2.5
Cavity wall, no insulation 1.6
Cavity wall with insulation 0.5
Single glazing 5.7
Double glazing 2.8
Double glazing with low- coating 1.8
Building Regulations
The regulations are designed for:
Health and comfort
Avoidance of condensation
Energy conservation
Mechanisms for conforming to regulations are:
Elemental approach: constructions have U-values within prescribed limits and
maximum glazing areas.
Trade-offs: glazing areas can be exceeded if they are compensated by
improvements in other parts of the building
Energy targets: needs to be demonstrated that energy consumption will not exceed
that obtained with an elemental approach.
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
Maximum U-values for houses: elemental approach
Thermal resistance R-value
Thermal resistance is a measure of the resistance to heat transfer offered by a
particular component of a building construction.
Symbol R; Units: m
2
K/W
Three general types of thermal resistance:
Material resistance:
k
d
R =
where k is the conductivity (W/mK) and d the thickness (m).
Surface resistances, internal (R
si
) and external (R
so
)
These depend on convection and radiation at the surface. Influencing factors
include:
a) Direction of heat flow (upward or downward)
b) Microclimatic effects (sheltered or exposed site)
c) Surface properties (emissivity)
0.25
3.3
0.6
0.35
0.45
Dwelling
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
Surface resistances can be calculated from
R
h Eh
s
c r
=
+
1
where:
h
c
is the convective heat transfer coefficient
h
r
is the radiative heat transfer coefficient
E is an emissivity factor which depends on the emissivity and the geometrical
relationship between the emitting and receiving surfaces
Typical values for surface resistances are (others are given in the CIBSE Guide A,
and McMullan) 0.123 for an internal vertical surface and 0.055 for an external
vertical surface
Airspace resistance
This depends on conduction, convection and radiation in and across the air space.
Influencing factors include:
a) Thickness of the airspace
b) Flow of air in the air space
c) Surface properties (emissivity)
d) Direction of heat flow (horizontally or vertically)
For unventilated cavities, thermal resistance increases with increase in cavity
thickness up to a width of about 25mm. For larger gaps, convection becomes
important and thermal resistance does not increase. Typical air gap resistance for a
cavity in a wall is 0.18m
2
K/W. About 60% of the heat transfer in a cavity takes
place by radiant heat transfer. Low emissivity materials such as aluminium foil can
be used to decrease the radiative heat transfer and so increase the thermal
resistance of the cavity. A similar effect is obtained with low-emissivity coatings on
glass.
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
Total thermal resistance:
R
tot
= R
si
+ R
1
+ R
2
+ R
a
+ R
3
+ R
4
+ R
so
so 4 3 a 2 1 si tot
R R R R R R R
1
R
1
value U
+ + + + + +
= =
U-values for floors
Conductive heat transfer through a floor is not 1-dimensional - there is also lateral heat
transfer. Greatest heat losses occur close to the exposed edges of the floor. Table 2.6
in McMullan gives some figures for the insulation required to obtain a U-value of 0.45
W/m
2
K as required by the regulations.
R
so R
si
R
1
Ra
R
2
R
3
R
4
Conductive heat loss paths
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
Average U-values
Note that U-values are not additive, but that thermal resistances are.
If a wall or roof is composed of different constructions, then the overall U-value of the
wall or roof depends upon the relative areas of the different constructions.
In this case:
U
A U A U
A A
average
=
+
+
1 1 2 2
1 2
A
2,
U
2
A
1,
U
1
16293: Environmental Engineering Science 1
Tutorial Questions
Chapter 2, Questions 1 to 9 in the course text by McMullan.
Additional questions:
1. Describe the main benefits of thermal insulation.
2. Indicate what thermal conductivity (k) is, in which units k is expressed. Would k
be higher or lower for a metal compared to an insulation material?
3. What is meant by thermal resistance (R), in which units is R expressed, and how
can R be calculated for a layer of material?
4. Indicate what is meant by overall thermal resistance (R
tot
) of a structure, and in
which units is R
tot
expressed. Would the R
tot
value of an insulated wall be higher or
lower when compared to the same wall without insulation?
5. Indicate what is meant by overall heat transfer coefficient (U) of a construction, in
which units U is expressed, and whether the U-value of an insulated wall be higher
or lower when compared to the same wall without insulation?
6. A solid layer of material consists of 0.20m concrete with a thermal conductivity of 2
W/mK. What is the thermal resistance of that layer? [0.10 m
2
K/W]
7. An insulated wall consists of 3 layers: 0.10m brick (k=1.0W/mK), 0.04m rockwool
(k=0.04W/mK) and 0.10m brick (k=0.5W/mK). The surface thermal resistances are:
outside surface 0.04 m
2
K/W, inside surface 0.13 m
2
K/W. What is the total thermal
resistance and U-value of the wall? [1.5 m
2
K/W, 0.67 W/m
2
K]
8. If the insulation layer of the previous wall is doubled, what will the new the total
thermal resistance and U-value of the wall be? [2.5 m
2
K/W, 0.40 W/m
2
K]
9. Calculate and compare the overall heat transfer coefficient of a 220mm thick solid
brick wall and the same wall but with an internal 40mm air cavity. [2.71 W/m
2
K,
1.85 W/m
2
]
Thermal conductivity of brick 1.15 W/mK
Inside standard surface resistance 0.123 m
2
K/W
Outside standard surface resistance 0.055 m
2
K/W
Air space resistance 0.17 m
2
K/W