PART 2 - HEAT INSULATION

TODAY…
• Heat
• Some terminologies related to heat
• Absorptivity
• Emissivity
• Reflectivity
• Surface coefficient
• Thermal conductance
• Thermal conductivity
• Thermal resistance
• Thermal resistivity
• Thermal transmittance
• Time lag
• Heat transmission through buildings
• Conduction
• Convection
• Radiation
• Thermal properties of building and insulating materials
• Calculating thermal transmittance and time lag using opaque software
 HEAT
o Heat is a form of energy (thermal) that is stored in a material as molecular motion (sensible
heat) or that is associated with the phase of the material (latent heat).

o Sensible heat is the energy required to change the temperature of a substance with no
phase change (ºCelsius).

o Example – Boiling water at room temperature to 100ºC

o Latent heat is the amount of thermal energy released or absorbed by a substance during a
change of phase.

heat heat
o Example – Ice Water Vapour
ABSORPTIVITY, REFLECTIVITY, EMISSIVITY & TRANSMISSIVITY
o Absorptivity () is a measure of relative amount of
radiation absorbed by a surface.

o Reflectivity (ρ) is a measure of the ratio of the

reflected heat to that of the total heat incident on a
surface.

o Emissivity (ε) is a measure of amount of thermal

radiation a body emits to its environment.

o Transmissivity (τ) is a measure of amount of radiation

passes through the object.
 CONDUCTANCE & CONDUCTIVITY
o Thermal Conductance is the heat flow rate through a unit area of the body induced by a
unit temperature difference between the body surfaces, in W/m².K.

o Thermal conductivity (k-value) is defined as the rate of heat flow through unit area of unit
thickness of the material when there is unit temperature difference between the two sides, in
W/m.K. It is a characteristic property of a material. Lower the k-value the better the
insulation.
 RESISTANCE & RESISTIVITY
o Thermal resistance is the reciprocal of thermal conductance (K.m²/W)

o Thermal resistivity (R-value) is the reciprocal of thermal conductivity (m.K/W)

o Thermal resistance of multi-layered components

• Higher R-value, better insulation

• More the material thickness, higher R-value
• Lower thermal conductivity, higher R-value
 SURFACE COEFFICIENT
o Surface Coefficient (f) is the quantity of
heat transmitted by convection,
conduction and radiation from unit area of
the surface when unit difference of
temperature is maintained between the
surface and the surrounding medium. The symbols fi and fo are used to denote

o It is expressed in W/(m²K). respectively the inside and outside surface

film coefficients. Values of surface

o Surface Resistance (l/f)- It is the reciprocal conductance at different wind

of surface coefficient.
o It is expressed in m²K/ W.
 THERMAL TRANSMITTANCE

o Thermal transmittance (U-value) is reciprocal of total thermal resistance RT. Its unit is W/m².K

o Lower U-value, better insulation.

o Conductance is a characteristic of
the structure whereas the
transmittance depends on
conductance and surface
coefficients of the structure.
 TIME LAG
o Thermal lag is the time delay for heat to be conducted through a material. It is expressed in
hour (h). A material with high heat capacity and low conductivity will have a high thermal lag.
 HEAT TRANSMISSION THROUGH BUILDINGS

The heat gains or losses occur through

various structural elements, like,
o Building envelope
• Walls,
• Windows,
• Roof and floor,
o The internal heat loads, and
o Rate of ventilation.
 MODES OF HEAT TRANSFER
o Conduction – transfer of heat from one material to another by direct contact.

o Convection - the process by which heat is transferred by movement of a heated fluid such as air or water.

o Radiation – emission of heat though space by means of electromagnetic waves.

 Heat transfer through envelope

Heat flow, in and out of the building through its walls and roofs is faster when
o the temperature difference between the outdoor and indoor is greater and
o the wall, roof or floor material itself are good conductors of heat
WHY DO WE INSULATE?
WHY DO WE INSULATE?

Heat gain and heat loss

o In warm climate its necessary to prevent heat gain, in order to keep the interior cool.
o In cold climate its necessary to minimize heat loss, so that it stays warm inside.
o Insulation acts as a barrier to minimize the heat transfer (heat loss and heat gain)
from outside to inside and vise-versa
 DIFFERENT INSULATION MATERIALS
o Spray foam insulation

o Open cell spray polyurethane foam insulation OCSPF

o Closed cell spray polyurethane foam insulation CCSPF etc

o Blanket insulation
OCSPF CCSPF Fibreglass wool
o Fibreglass wool

o Mineral and Rockwool etc

o Expandable rigid foam insulation

o EPS board
EPS XPS Rockwool
o XPS board etc

o Straw-bale insulation
o Cork insulation
o Green wall/Green roof
Strawbale Cork insulation Green roof
THERMAL PROPERTIES OF BUILDING AND INSULATING MATERIALS
SPECIFIC SPECIFIC
TYPE OF THERMAL TYPE OF THERMAL
DENSITY HEAT DENSITY HEAT
MATERIALS CONDUCTIVITY MATERIALS CONDUCTIVITY
CAPACITY CAPACITY