INFLUENCE OF WALL CHARACTERISTICS ON

ROOM TEMPERATURE OF BUILDING

T.Siva Ganesh1, Sridhar Kadambari 2, P.Veerabhadra Rao 3
1. P.G student, Infrastructure Engineering and Management, G.V.P College of Engineering (A), Visakhapatnam.

2. Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, G.V.P College of Engineering (A), Visakhapatnam.

3. Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, G.V.P College of Engineering (A), Visakhapatnam.

Abstract – The prominence given to study, providing thermal comfort for the residents living
in the buildings which are constructed with concrete walls. There is a huge shortage of
affordable houses in our country, especially in the rural sector. To address the huge shortage
Government of India launched mass housing scheme called Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana
(PMAY)-Housing for all. At present for the construction of these buildings shear wall
technology is preferably used which consists concrete walls and slabs. Each dwelling unit has
an area of 430sq.ft. In tropical countries like India, where the daylight duration is more, the
buildings will be exposed to hot sun most of the time during daytime. This causes an increase
in internal temperature, which increases discomfort for the residents in the buildings. This
temperature difference is more in concrete wall buildings than brick wall buildings. In this
paper the concrete wall buildings are studied with different properties and their influence on
inside temperature of the room. In this process comparison of inside temperature is made with
and without insulation properties, also behavior of the building in various climatic zones.

Keywords: Thermal behavior of walls, Cooling Load, Insulation, IFC BUILDER,

CYPETHERM LOADS.

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 General:

 In India buildings are generally constructed as framed structures and walls are
constructed with country bricks. But now way days the buildings are constructing with
shear wall technology using concrete walls.
 The change in construction of wall materials from brick to concrete causes thermal
discomfort for the people who are living in the building. Properties of concrete are
different from country brick; this causes rise in the inside temperature of building. In
tropical countries like India day light is more, so the buildings will be exposed to the
hot sun more during daytime.
 Indian government is providing several housing schemes; Pradhan Mnatri Awas
Yojana(PMAY) is one of them. Under this scheme Government of India providing
houses for economically weaker section people at less cost. Now government of India
is proposing the construction of these houses with shear wall technology to reduce the
use of burnt clay bricks i.e. country bricks.
 The inside temperature of concrete wall buildings is more than the conventional
buildings. To get thermal comfort some people may go for an external source like air
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 coolers, air conditioners, etc., to reduce the inside temperature of the building. But for
economically weaker section people they might not afford the cost of the external
sources to reduce the inside temperature.
 To reduce the inside temperature of concrete wall buildings and to provide thermal
comfort for the residents of the building insulation materials are used. The insulation
material will reduce the heat transfer from outside to inside of the building.
 In this paper comparison of thermal behavior of brick wall and concrete wall buildings
with different properties at various climatic zones are discussed.

1.2 Material Properties:

Thermal Specific Heat

Density
Conductivity Capacity
3
Brick Walls 0.89 W/(m.K) 790 J/(kg.K) 1920 kg/m
3
Concrete Walls 1.95 W/(m.K) 900 J/(kg.K) 2240 kg/m
3
Insulation Material 0.03 W/(m.K) 1210 J/(kg.K) 43 kg/m

1.3 Factors influencing room temperature of the building:

i. Height of the building.

ii. Location of the building
iii. Type of the building.
iv. Lighting in the building.
v. Equipment used in the building.
vi. People living in the building.
vii. Materials used for construction of the building.
viii. Openings in the building i.e. doors and windows.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
Overview of Research on Thermal Insulation of Wall of Timber-Structure Buildings by Xi
Fei, Ruan Xuejun, Sun Youfu provided an important concept of thermal insulation of timber
buildings. The concept of timber insulation gave an idea about reducing the heat escape from
inside the building and also energy conservation is also important for building walls.

3. METHODOLOGY
The studied building is a residential building. The building plan which was used for this work
was released by Central Government of India under the scheme of Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana (PMAY) to construct houses for economically weaker section people.

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3.1 Type of walls that are used for analysis:

 230 mm thick brick wall without insulation board.

 230mm thick brick wall with insulation board.
 150mm thick concrete wall without insulation board.
 150mm thick concrete wall with insulation board.
 150mm thick brick wall without insulation board.
 150mm thick brick wall with insulation board.
 120mm thick concrete wall without insulation board.
 120mm thick concrete wall with insulation board.

3.2 Details of the Building:

 Type of the Building : Residential

 Number of Floors : G+3
 Floor Height : 3m
 Number of Dwelling units in Each Floor :8
 Total Number of Dwelling Units in a Block : 32
 Block Area : 23.80m x 14.50m : 345.10 Sqm
 Built Up Area of each Dwelling Unit : 430 Sft
 Carpet Area of each Dwelling Unit : 328 Sft
 Dimensions of the Rooms:
i. Living Room : 3.20m x 2.40m
ii. Bed Room 1 : 2.60m x 2.90m
iii. Bed Room 2 : 2.60m x 2.45m
iv. Kitchen : 2.00m x 1.75m
v. Bath Room : 1.60m x 1.20m
vi. Balcony : 2.60m x 1.00m
 Details of Openings in each Dwelling Unit:
i. Door-1 : 3 x 1.00m x 2.00m
ii. Door-2 : 2 x 0.75m x 2.00m
iii. Window-1 : 4 x 0.90m x 1.21m
iv. Window-2 : 1 x 0.90m x 1.05m
v. Ventilator : 1 x 0.60m x 0.45m
 Additional Details:
Number of persons residing in a house: 4 (Assumption)
 Schedules for various aspects used in the building are assumed. They are:
i. Schedule of people living in the building.
ii. Usage of lighting schedule in the building.
iii. Internal equipment schedule in the building.

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 By using above details the building was modelled in IFC BUILDER software.

Fig 1: Building model in IFC BUILDER

Fig 2: Floor Plan of the Building

3.3 Design Conditions:

1. Room temperature: 24oC

2. Humidity in atmosphere: 55%

The above conditions are used by the manufacturers in the design of air conditioners.

The standard room temperature and humidity in atmosphere are 28 oC and 85% respectively

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3.4 Cooling Load:

The cooling load is the amount of heat energy that would need to be removed from a space to
maintain the temperature in an acceptable range.

3.5 Heating Load:

The heating load is the amount of heat energy that would need to be added to a space to
maintain the temperature in an acceptable range.

In our country cooling load is taken into consideration while heating load is useful for cold
countries.

Thermal load calculations of building are calculated according to the Radiant Time Series
Method (RTSM) proposed by ASHRAE by using CYPETHERM LOADS software.

3.6 The Cooling Load was calculated by:

23
qϴ = Σ cjUA(TSA,ϴ-j – ti)
j=0

Where:
qϴ = heat gain for the hour ϴ [W]
cj = conduction time series factors
U = opaque surface heat transfer coefficient [W/(m2.K)]
A = surface area [m2]
TSA,ϴ-j = solar air temperature for the hour ϴ-j [oC]
ti = space air indoor temperature [oC]

𝛂𝐄𝐭,𝚹 ɛ𝚫𝐑
TSA,ϴ = TO,ϴ + +
𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐨

TSA,ϴ = sol – air temperature for the hour ϴ [oC]

TO,ϴ = outdoor temperature for the hour ϴ [oC]
α = absortivity of the surface
Et,ϴ = total radiation at hour ϴ for the orientation of the surface, calculated in accordance
with the ASHRAE’s clear sky model(the shade defined is [W/m2] considered in the
calculation by estimating a null direct radiation during hours in the shade)
𝑊
ho = combined outside surface conductance = 22.7 [𝑚.2 𝐾]
ɛΔR
= 0 for vertical surfaces and -4K for horizontal surfaces
ho

The climate data of various cities are accessible in the software. Based on that climatic data
the thermal load calculations are computed.

To reduce the cooling load insulation boards are used. These insulation boards are fixed to
inside the building with mortar joint.

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3.7 Insulation board material:

 Extruded Polystyrene(XPS)

Fig 3: 230mm Brick wall Fig 4: 230mm Brick wall with

Without insulation board 25mm thick insulation board

Fig 5:150mm concrete wall Fig 6:150mm concrete wall with

Without insulation board 25mm thick insulation board

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 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
The results of various cities are discussed below:

Table 1: Cooling Loads of different walls in Visakhapatnam

COOLING LOAD(W)

BRICK WALL CONCRETE WALL

230mm 150mm 150mm 120mm

Without Insulation 87579W 98001W 118041W 123986W

With Insulation 71124W 72882W 75274W 76238W

% of Reduction 18.78% 25.63% 36.2% 38.51%

Table 2: Cooling Loads of different walls in Bangalore

COOLING LOAD(W)

BRICK WALL CONCRETE WALL

230mm 150mm 150mm 120mm

Without Insulation 74811W 84787W 102228W 109323W

With Insulation 64350W 66110W 68650W 70019W

% of Reduction 18.79% 22.08% 32.84% 35.95%

Table 3: Cooling Loads of different walls in Machilipatnam

COOLING LOAD(W)
BRICK WALL CONCRETE WALL

230mm 150mm 150mm 120mm

Without Insulation 118401W 133324W 163203W 171890W

With Insulation 93122W 95526W 98969W 100360W
% of Reduction 21.35% 28.35% 39.35% 41.61%

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 Table 4: Cooling Loads of different walls in Kurnool
COOLING LOAD(W)

BRICK WALL CONCRETE WALL

230mm 150mm 150mm 120mm

Without Insulation 115896W 130768W 160060W 169604W

With Insulation 92492W 94879W 98429W 100009W

% of Reduction 20.19% 27.44% 38.5% 41.03%

140000
118041
120000
Cooling Load in Watts

100000 87579
80000 71124 75274
Without Insulation
Board
60000
With Insulation Board
40000

20000

0
230mm Brick Wall 150mm Concrete
Wall

Type of Wall

Fig. 6: Comparison of 230mm brick wall with 150mm concrete wall in

Visakhapatnam Region

 There is a decrease of 18.78% in cooling load for 230mm brick wall without insulation when
compared with 230mm brick wall with insulation. Whereas the cooling load required for
150mm concrete wall with insulation is 36.2% less than the cooling load required for 150mm
concrete wall without insulation.
 The cooling load required for 230mm brick wall without insulation is less of 25.8% than load
required for 150mm concrete wall without insulation.
 Similarly the required cooling for 150mm concrete wall with insulation is 5.5% more than the
load required for 230mm brick wall with insulation.
 After providing insulation there is a reduction in cooling load from 25.8% to 5.5% for both
230mm brick wall and 150mm concrete wall.
 When 230mm brick wall without insulation is compared with 150mm concrete wall with
insulation there is a decrease in cooling load about 14%, that means by providing the

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 insulation for 150mm concrete wall the required cooling load is less than the required cooling
load for 230mm brick wall.

5. CONCLUSIONS
Thermal behavior the brick wall and concrete wall of buildings were studied with and without
insulation in various climatic zones.

1. There is a nominal decrease in the required load to reduce the internal temperature of the
building after providing insulation for 230mm brick wall.
2. By providing insulation for concrete wall buildings there is a significant change internal
temperature of the building.
3. By providing insulation for 150mm concrete wall the required load to reduce the internal
temperature is less than the load required for 230mm brick wall without insulation.
4. After providing the insulation, any other external energy sources like air conditioners are
not necessary for thermal comfort of the residents of the building.
5. By using these insulation boards the consumption of electricity will also reduce.
6. At the cost of one air conditioner the insulation will be provided for whole house.

6. REFERENCES
1. Spitler, J.D., D.E. Fisher, C.O. Pedersen. 1997. “The Radiant Time Series Cooling Load
Calculation Procedure”, ASHRAE.
2. RongDan Diao, Linzhu Sun, Fang Yang (2018) “Thermal performance of building wall
materials in villages and towns in hot summer and cold winter zone in China” Applied
Thermal Engineering Volume 128, 5 January 2018, Pages 517-530.
3. Cooling load calculation manual prepared by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating
and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc., U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
4. Xi Fei, Ruan Xuejun, Sun Youfu (2016) “Overview of Research on Thermal Insulation of
Wall of Timber-Structure Buildings” Journal of Residuals Science & Technology, Vol. 13,
No. 8, 2016.