Insulating Materials for Energy Saving in Buildings

• Published in: Key engineering materials 2014-11, Vol.632, p.1-14
• Main Authors: Deoliya, Rajesh, Kumar, Ashok, Chani, P.S.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Buildings; Energy conservation; India; Insulation; Matlab; Retrofitting; Roofing; Thermal conductivity
• ISSN: 1013-9826; 1662-9795; 1662-9795
• DOI: 10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.632.1

Insulation is considered one of the effective solutions to achieve energy savings in buidings. Better insulation having low thermal conductivity contributes significantly to new construction and retrofitting existing buildings. The Energy Conservation Building Code and National Building Code of India define the prescriptive and mandatory requirements for the U-factor and R-values for different climates but the way to achieve these values is left to the designers. As none of the walling and roofing assemblies in buildings fulfill the criteria for overall thermal transmittance, the study deals with determining the thermal conductivity of sustainable walling materials and prefab roofing technologies as well as insulating materials using Guarded Hot-Plate Apparatus. The MATLAB program is developed for computing the U-values and for predicting the desired retrofit insulation thicknesses to make different materials and roofing assembly combinations comply the Code requirements in different climatic regions of India. The results of the study are used for computing the performance with and without insulation using DesgnBuilder software for improving energy efficinecy of the buildings in composite climate in India.