KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF

PETROLEUM AND MINERALS

COLLEGE OF
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
THERMAL AND ECONOMIC
PERFORMANCE OF
INSULATION FOR SAUDI
BUILDINGS
By
Dr. A. Al-Hammad
 INTRODUCTION
Under grant from King Abdulaziz City for
Science and Technology, a research
team from Architectural Engineering
Program conducted a study on " Thermal
And Economic Performance of Insulation
for Saudi Arabian buildings “ .

KF
UPM
 OBJECTIVE OF THE
STUDY
To develop information regarding thermal
and economic performance of insulation
materials and assemblies for use in
Saudi Arabian buildings.

KF
UPM
 Approach of the Study
Extensive Review of Survey of Saudi Building Material
Literature Costs as well as common wall or
roof assemblies

Simulation Studies Monitoring Studies

Define Typical Saudi Villa Construct a Building Facility for Field Testing

Use DOE Program to make Simulation runs Choose and construct 14 Wall Panels and 10
for different Wall and Roof Assemblies with Roof Panels of most Saudi Common
or without insulation materials Assemblies including Temperature and Heat
Flow Sensors

Install a PC computer to store, read, and

show temperature and heat flows data Install a computerized data acquisition for
generated from the test panels system for use with the test panels

KF
UPM
 MONITORING TEST FACILITIES
 A - General layout of insulation test panel building

SPARE ROOM
( NOT USED ) A/C

MATERIALS STORAGE ROOM

1 WORKING TABLES DATA ROOF PANELS ( ABOVE ) A/C

M A/C ACQUISITION
FRONT ROOM EQUIPMENT REAR ROOM
ENTRY
WALL PANELS WALL PANELS

KF
UPM
 MONITORING TEST FACILITIES
 B - Wall panels
1 - Location of the wall panels
2 - Cross -section of the wall panels

0.5750

0.6000

13 10 9 6 3 2 1
1.7500
14 12 11 8 7 4 3

0.3000
0.4500

1.4750

Appendix A shows the cross section of the wall panels.

KF
UPM
 MONITORING TEST FACILITIES
 C - Roof panels
1 -Location of the roof panels
2 -Cross-section of the roof panels 9 10
MTL CONC.

1 2

3 4
North
6 5
HOR.

7 8
BUILDING KEY PLAN HOR.

Appendix B shows the cross section of the roof panels.

KF
UPM
THE
THE TEST
TEST ROOM
ROOM AT
AT KFUPM-ROOFS
KFUPM-ROOFS
WALL
WALL PANELS
PANELS –OUTSIDE
–OUTSIDE VIEWS
VIEWS
THE
THE TEST
TEST ROOM
ROOM AT
AT KFUPM-WALLS
KFUPM-WALLS
ENLARGED WALL PANELS-1
ENLARGED
ENLAGED
ENLAGED WALL
WALL PANELLS-2
PANELLS-2
ENLAGED
ENLAGED WALL
WALL PANELS-3
PANELS-3
WALL
WALL PANELS
PANELS INSIDE
INSIDE VIEWS
VIEWS
WALL
WALL AND
AND ROOF
ROOF PANELS
PANELS INSIDE
INSIDE VIEWS
VIEWS
ROOF
ROOF PANELS
PANELS INSIDE
INSIDE VIEWS
VIEWS
Data Acquisition Systems
Temperature and heat flow sensors about 159 from wall and roof panels

Data Acquisition System

Through an embedded program called DATAC, it can perform
* timing function --> timing reading, interval between reading
* control data files
* call for specific channel access
* convert voltage values to temperature or heat flow values

PC Computer and monitor make each 15 minutes reading and

record of data for all the sensors for the whole year

* Heat flow measurement for each wall or roof panel

* Measurement of temperatures gradient for each panel

Heat flow sample Sample of the result Temperature sample

KF
UPM
DATA
DATA ACQUISITION
ACQUISITION SYSTEMS
SYSTEMS
COMPUTER
COMPUTER READING
READING VIEWS
VIEWS
WALL-1
WALL-1 CROSS
CROSS SECTION
SECTION
ROOF-1
ROOF-1 CROSS
CROSS SECTION
SECTION
ROOF-2
ROOF-2 CROSS
CROSS SECTION
SECTION
 SAMPLE OF HEAT FLOW
ANALYSIS FOR WALL PANELS
60000
50000
H e a t F l o w 40000
( w / s q m ) 30000
20000
10000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Wall Panel Number

 Month of July Net Heat Flow Comparison for Walls

KFUPM
 SAMPLE OF HEAT FLOW
ANALYSIS FOR ROOF PANELS

90000
80000
70000
H e a t F l o w 60000
( w / s q m ) 50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Roof Panel Numbe r

 Month of July Net Heat Flow Comparison for Roofs

KFUPM
SAMPLE OF TEMPERATURE
ANALYSIS
50

45
Ext. Surface
Temperature ( deg C )

40 Out of Block
Inside Block
35
Int Ssurface
30 Inside air
Outside air
25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of Day

Wall 1 Temperature Profile at July 17, 1990

SAMPLE OF TEMPERATURE
ANALYSIS
50

45
Ext. Surface
Temperature ( deg C )

40 Out of Block
Inside Block
35
Int Ssurface
30 Inside air
Outside air
25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of Day

Wall 2 Temperature Profile at July 17, 1990

SAMPLE OF TEMPERATURE
ANALYSIS
55
50
Ext. Surface
Temperature ( deg C )

45
Under Tile
40 Top of Slab
35 Bot. of Slab
30 Inl. surface
Outside air
25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of Day

Roof 1 Temperature Profile at July 17, 1990

SAMPLE OF TEMPERATURE
ANALYSIS
60
55
50 Ext. Surface
deg C )

Under Tile
Temperature ( deg

45
Top of Slab
Temperature

40
Bot. of Slab
35
Inl. surface
30
Outside air
25
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time of Day

Roof 2 Temperature Profile at July 17, 1990

Department
Department of
of Architectural
Architectural
Engineering
Engineering
College
College of
of Environmental
Environmental
Design
Design
••For
For more
more information,
information,
••please
please visit,
visit, or
or call:
call:

••(03)
(03) 860-3581
860-3581
••THANK
THANK YOU
YOU