UNITS AND TERMINOLOGIES

Temperature

Temperature is measured by the Celsius scale. This has been constructed by taking
the freezing and boiling points of water (at normal atmospheric pressure) as fixed
points and dividing the interval into 100 degrees. A position on this scale, i.e. the
temperature of an object is denoted as: °C but an interval or
difference in temperature is: degC. Both should be pronounced as 'degrees Celsius'.
(The popularly used name centigrade' should be avoided, because it is used as an
angular measure in some places of the Continent: the rectangle
is divided into 100 grades and each grade into 100 centigrades.)

Thus if the indoor temperature is 28°C

and the out-door temperature is 32°C
the temperature difference is 4 deg C
or if the day-time maximum is 36°C
and the night-time minimum is 24°C
the diurnal range is 12 degC

In scientific work the Kelvin scale may be used, on which an interval of temperature
is the same as on the Celsius scale, but the starting point – the zero – is the
'absolute zero', which is –273.15°C.
Thus
NdegC = NdegK
but N °C = N + 273.15°K

Heat

Heat is a form of energy, appearing as molecular movement in substances or as

'radiant heat', a certain wavelength band of electromagnetic radiation in space (700
to 10000 nm). It is measured in general energy units:
The joule is derived from the three basic units:
length = metre (m)
mass = kilogramme (kg)
time = second (s)
in a logical and coherent way, as follows:

a velocity – a movement of unit length in unit time, metre per second: (m/s)

b acceleration – a unit change in velocity in unit time, m/s = metre per second
square: (m/s2) s

c force – that, which can cause unit acceleration of a body having a unit mass m/s2
× kg = kg m/s2.
This unit is given the special name 'Newton':
Note that as the gravitational acceleration is 9.8 m/s2 the gravitational force acting
on 1 kg mass,
i.e. the 'weight' of 1 kg or 1 kgf (kilogramme–force), is 9.8 N. It would be advisable to
completely delete the term 'weight' from the vocabulary (and speak either of mass or
of force) as it blurs the fact that mass units kg or lb are not the same as force units
kgf or lbf. Weight is actually the gravitational acceleration of a unit mass, a force unit,
the use of which is to be discontinued.

d work – unit work is carried out if a unit force is acting over a unit length (i.e. if a
body of 1 kg mass is given a velocity of 1 m/s in one second, with 1 m movement)
thus the unit work is N × m =
kg m/s2 × m = kg m2/s2 and this unit is given the special name 'Joule': J

e energy – is the potential or capacity for carrying out a certain work, thus it is
measured in the
same unit as work: J

Previously special units were is use for the measurement of heat, even if the joule
was used for measuring other forms of energy.

The kilocalorie (kcal) was defined as the amount of heat necessary to raise the
temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degC.
Both of these are now obsolete. Old data can be converted into SI units by using the
following
factors:
1 kcal = 4186.8 J

Other thermal quantities

Before proceeding further, several other thermal quantities must be defined, to which
reference will have to be made in the following sections.

Specific heat of a substance is the amount of heat energy necessary to cause unit
temperature increase of a unit mass of the substance. It is measured in: J/kg degC
The higher the specific heat of a substance, the more heat it will absorb for a given
increase in temperature. Of all common substances water has the highest specific
heat: 4187 J/kg degC.
For gases often the volumetric specific heat is given in:
The volumetric specific heat of air is around 1300 J/m3 degC (varying with pressure
and humidity).

Latent heat of a substance is the amount of heat energy absorbed by unit mass of
the substance at change of state (from solid to liquid or liquid to gaseous) without
any change in temperature. It is measured in: J/kg
For water the latent heat is:
of fusion (0°C ice to 0°C water) 335 kJ/kg
of evaporation at 100°C 2261 kJ/kg
(of evaporation at around 20°C 2400 kJ/kg)
At change of state in the reverse direction the same amount of heat is released.

Thermal capacity of a body is the product of its mass and the specific heat of its
material. It is measured as the amount of heat required to cause unit temperature
increase of the body, in units of J/deg C
Calorific value is the amount of heat released by unit mass of a fuel or food material
by its complete combustion and it is measured in: J/kg
Calorific value per volume is measured in: J/m3

Heat flow
Heat energy tends to distribute itself evenly until a perfectly diffused uniform thermal
field is achieved. It tends to flow from high temperature to lower temperature zones,
by any or all of the following ways:
 Conduction
 Convection
 Radiation
The 'motive force' of heat flow in any of these forms is the temperature difference
between the two zones or areas considered. The greater the temperature difference,
the faster the rate of heat flow.

Heat flow rate

Power is the ability to carry out a certain work in unit time: it is measured in joules
per second, J/s, which is given a special name 'Watt': W

If unit work is carried out in unit time, or unit energy is expended to unit time, we
have unit power. Thus if we think of power as the rate of energy expenditure, it will
be seen that the same unit can be used to measure the rate of energy flow. This
energy flow may be the flow of heat through a wall, the heat removed by a cooling
plant, the radiant heat flow from an electric radiator, the flow of electricity through a
light bulb, sound (acoustical) energy emitted by a loudspeaker, the rotational
(mechanical) energy output of an electric motor or, indeed, of a motor-car engine. In
all these cases energy is flowing or expended, and it is the rate of this flow which we
measure in watts.

Watt is of the same physical dimension as kcal/h, or as horsepower (hp). The

following conversion factors can be used to convert old data into watts:

1hp (metric) = 735.5 W

1kcal/h = 1.163 W
1ton of refrigeration = 3516 W (approximately 3.5 kW)

The common element in all these units is that all are energy units per a time unit,
which may be a second, an hour or a day, as in the last item. (A ton of refrigeration is
the cooling power of 1 ton (American 'short' ton of 2000 lb) of ice melting in 24 hours.
As a pound of ice requires 144 Btu of heat to melt it into water of the same
temperature:
1 ton of refrigeration = 12000 × 0.293 W = 3516 W.)
In most practical applications the multiple of watt, 'kilowatt', will be used
kW (1 kW = 1000 W):

Density of heat flow rate

If the total rate of heat flow from an identifiable unit is to be measured (such as the
heat loss from a given building, the output of a boiler, the radiation through a given
window or the heat removed through a cooling plant) the unit of measurement is W
or kW.
In many cases, however, there is no defined area through which the heat flow could
be considered, e.g. solar radiation or flow of heat through a wall of unspecified size.
In such cases the heat flow rate can be measured in relation to a unit area, i.e. the
density of such heat flow rate (per analogiam. population density: numbers per unit
area). The unit of measurement is watt per metre square: W/m2
(The term intensity is often used synonymously with density, thus the intensity of a
sound or the intensity of solar radiation is measured in W/m2.)

Conductivity

In conduction through a body or through bodies in direct contact, the spread of

molecular movement constitutes the flow of heat. The rate at which such molecular
movement spreads varies with different materials and is described as a property of
the material – its thermal conductivity (or 'k-value'). It is measured as the rate of heat
flow (flow of energy per unit time) through unit W/m degC area of unit thickness of
the material, when there is a unit temperature difference between the two
sides. The unit of measurement would thus be W × m/m2 degC, but this can be
simplified by cancellation:

Its value varies between 0.03 W/m degC for insulating materials and up to 400 W/m
degC for metals.

The lower the conductivity, the better insulator a material is.

Resistivity is the reciprocal of this quantity (1/k) measured in units of: m degC/W
Better insulators will have higher resistivity values.
Relevance Of Density

It must be noted that density is often taken as an indicator of conductivity: higher

density materials normally have a higher conductivity or k-value, but there is no
direct or causal relationship between the two quantities. The apparent relationship is
due to the fact that air has a very low conductivity value, and as lightweight materials
tend to be porous, thus containing more air, their conductivity tends to be less.
There are, however, many exceptions, for example:

In all three pairs the second one is lighter, but has a higher conductivity value.

The relationship is true for materials of the same kind, but of varying densities, or for
the same material with different densities, due to variations in moisture content.
Water has a conductivity of 0.580 W/m degC
whereas air has only 0.026 W/m degC
Therefore if air in the pores of a material is replaced by water, its conductivity rapidly
increases.
Tests on an asbestos insulating slab gave the following values :

The more porous a material, the greater the increase in conductivity with
increased moisture content.

Conductance

Whilst conductivity and resistivity are properties of a material, the corresponding

properties of a body of a given thickness are described as conductance (C), or its
reciprocal, resistance (R): C= 1/R

Conductance is the heat flow rate through a unit area of the body (i.e. the density of
heat flow rate) when the temperature difference between the two surfaces is 1 degC.
The unit of W/m2 degC
and resistance is measured in m2 degC/W
Resistance of a body is the product of its thickness and the resistivity of its material:
where b is the thickness in metres (dimension: m × m degC/W = m2 degC/W).
k is a constant

Multilayer body

If a body consists of several layers of different materials, its total resistance will be
the sum of the resistances of the individual layers. The conductance of such a
multilayer body (Cb) can be found by finding its total resistance (Rb) and taking its
reciprocal:

where b1, b2, b3..... are the thicknesses of the different layers
R is the resistivity
k is a constant
R1, R2, R3.... are the resistances of the different layers

Note that the conductances are not additive, only the resistances.

Surface conductance

In addition to the resistance of a body to the flow of heat, a resistance will be offered
by its surfaces, where a thin layer of air film separates the body from the surrounding
air. A measure of this is the surface or film-resistance, denoted thus: 1/f
(m2degC/W) f being the surface or filmconductance (W/m2 degC).

Surface conductance includes the convective and the radiant components of the
heat exchange at surfaces.

In the preceding paragraphs, heat flow from one surface of the body to the other
surface was considered (thus the temperature difference was taken between the two
surfaces).

Conductance has been defined in these terms. If the heat flow from air on one side,
through the body, to air on the other side is considered, both surface resistances
must be taken into account.
The overall, air-to-air resistance (R ) is the sum of the body's resistance and the
surface resistances:

where
1/fi = internal surface resistance
Rb = resistance of the body
1/fo= external surface resistance
(all resistance values in m2 degC/W).

The magnitude of surface- or film-conductance (f ) is a function of surface qualities

and of the velocity of air passing the surface.

Transmittance

The reciprocal of this air-to-air resistance is the air-to-air transmittance, or U-value:

where Ra is the surface resistance

Its unit of measurement is the same as for conductance – W/m2 degC – the only
difference being that here the air temperature difference (and not the surface
temperature difference) will be taken into account.

This is the quantity most often used in building heat loss and heat gain problems, as
its use greatly simplifies the calculations. but if the U-value of a particular
construction is not found in the table, it can be computed from its component factors.

Cavities

If an air space or cavity is enclosed within a body, through which the heat transfer is
considered, this will offer another barrier to the passage of heat. It is measured as
the cavity resistance, (Rc) which can be added to the other resistances described
above.

At most the value of Rc for an empty cavity may be the sum of an internal and an
external surface resistances (0.176 m2 degC/W), but often it is less if the cavity is
narrower than 50 mm, or if strong convection currents can develop inside the cavity.
Its value can be improved significantly by hanging an aluminium foil freely, inside the
cayity. The function of this will be explained when radiation effects are discussed.

Convection

In convection, heat is transferred by the bodily movement of a carrying medium,

usually a gas or a liquid. This movement may be self-generating, i.e. due to thermal
forces alone (temperature differences, thus different densities, causing convection
currents, as in wind generation) or may be propelled by an applied force.
The rate of heat transfer in convection depends on three factors:
1. Temperature difference (difference in temperature of the medium at the
warmer and cooler points)
2. The rate of movement of the carrying medium in terms of kg/s or m3/s
3. The specific heat of the carrying medium in J/kg degC or J/m3 degC

These quantities will be used in ventilation heat loss or cooling calculations.

(The convective heat flow from a body, through a medium, to another body is
expressed by a more complex equation, not necessary for our purposes.)

Radiation
In radiation heat transfer the rate of heat flow depends on the temperatures of the
emitting and receiving surfaces and on certain qualities of these surfaces: the
emittance and absorbance.

Radiation received by a surface can be partly absorbed and partly reflected: the
proportion of these two components is expressed by the coefficients absorbance (a)
and reflectance (r).
The sum of these two coefficients is always one:
a+r=1

Light coloured, smooth and shiny surfaces tend to have a higher reflectance. For the
perfectreflective theoretical white surface: r = 1, a = 0.

The perfect absorber, the theoretical 'black body', would have the coefficients: r = 0,
a = 1.

The coefficient emittance (e) expresses how much of the available heat will be
emitted (in relation to the black body', for which e = 1). Its value is the same as for
absorbance:
a=e

for the same wavelengths of radiation, but may differ for different wavelengths. The
wavelength of emitted radiation depends on the temperature of the emitter. The sun
with its surface around 5500°C, emits short-wave infra-red (and on shorter
wavelengths, light and ultra-violet) – but objects at terrestrial temperatures (0 to
50°C) emit long-wave infra-red only. Thus the absorbance for solar radiation will not
be the same as emittance at terrestrial temperatures; for example:

The practical significance of this is that if both surfaces are exposed to solar
radiation, both will reflect and absorb the same amount of heat, but the white painted
surface will re-emit much of the absorbed heat, whereas the bright metal surface will
not. Therefore the latter will attain a much higher temperature.

Bright metal foils are successfully used for insulation in situations where heat is
transmitted mainly by radiation. A loose foil in a cavity will reflect much of the
incident radiant heat, but if it absorbs any, very little of it will be reradiated.

Measurement of radiation

Radiation incident on a plane surface can be measured instrumentally and its

intensity described in terms of W/m2. With many sources producing a complex
pattern by inter-reflection, a description of the situation in these terms would be very
lengthy and cumbersome. Such a situation can be described in terms of the mean
radiant temperature (MRT) or globe thermometer readings.

Sol-air temperature

For building design purposes it is useful to combine the heating effect of radiation
incident on a building with the effect of warm air. This can be done by using the sol-
air temperature concept. A temperature value is found, which would create the same
thermal effect as the incident radiation in question, and this value is added to the air
temperature:

where
Ts = sol-air temperature, in °C
To = outside air temperature, in °C
l = radiation intensity, in W/m2
a = absorbance of the surface
fo = surface conductance (outside), W/m2 degC

However, it is necessary to point out, that whilst in a cold climate a lesser value of fo
would help reducing the heat loss, in a warm climate (in a solar heat gain situation) a
greater value of fo is desirable to reduce solar overheating. The reason is that the
incident radiation increases the surface temperature far above the air temperature,
thus some heat is dissipated to the out-door air immediately. The greater the fo
value, the more heat will be dissipated before it can be conducted away by the wall
material.

Solar gain factor

It might be useful to consider the combined effect of reflective surfaces and thermal
insulation. For the reduction of solar heat gain a dark, highly absorptive surface with
good insulation may be just as effective as a more reflective but less well-insulated
element. (Good insulation with a highly reflective surface is of course, better than
both.)
From the above sol-air temperature equation the temperature equivalent of the
radiation gain
(the sol-air excess') is:

where
Ts = sol-air temperature, in °C
To = outside air temperature, in °C
l = radiation intensity, in W/m2
a = absorbance of the surface
fo = surface conductance (outside), W/m2 degC

Thus the extra heat flow rate (q) per unit area (caused by the radiation) is:

where
l = radiation intensity, in W/m2
a = absorbance of the surface
U= U value
fo = surface conductance (outside), W/m2 degC

From this the 'solar gain factor' is:

This solar gain factor is defined as the heat flow rate through the construction due to
solar radiation expressed as a fraction of the incident solar radiation. As this value
can be related to the increase in the inner surface temperature, a performance
requirement can be established on the basis of experience, in terms of this solar gain
factor.Its value should not exceed 0.04 in warm-humid climates or 0.03 in the hot-dry
season of composite climates, when ventilation is reduced.
It is reasonable to assume a constant value for external surface conductance as:
fo = 20 W/m2 degC, thus we can establish target values for the a × U product: