Thermal Comfort

Thermal Design

Objective: Control heat flow to:

2. Maintain comfortable indoor
conditions
3. Reduce heating/cooling loads, which reduces
operating costs
4. Control vapor
movement/condensation
5. Design to accommodate
contraction/expansion of building
materials and sealant joints
 Heat Flow

Heat flow
T Warmer area Cooler area

T2

T1 Temp gradient

Factors affecting thermal energy flow:

2. Solar radiation
3. Air temperature
4. Wind/air movement

5. Humidity
Flow of Thermal Energy
 Conduction : Direct
transfer by contact
of solid, liquid or
gas
 Flow of thermal Energy- Continue

 Convection: transfer
of heat by the
movement of air or
water
 Flow of thermal Energy- Continue

 Radiation: Flow of
energy in the form of
electromagnatic waves (
light, ultraviolet,
infrared heat)
Solar radiation is a
function of latitude, time
of the year,
slope/orientation of the
surface
Thermal Performance

 Factors affecting thermal performance:

 Air space
 Thermal
 mass
Thermal
resistance
Thermal Mass

 Heat migrates through solid materials

from the hot side to the cooler side.
The time delay involving absorption of
the heat is called thermal lag
 The amount of energy necessary to
raise material temp is proportional to
the wt of the material
Thermal Mass- Continue

 Heavy materials like concrete and

masonry absorb and store a significant
amount of heat and substantially
retard its migration. This characteristic
is called thermal storage capacity. It
affects the rate of conductive heat
transfer and is a critical consideration
in passive solar heating and cooling
strategies
Thermal Resistance

Thermal conductance, C, is the time

rate of heat flow through ft2 of area at a
temp difference of 1°F for a specific
thickness of material.
Thermal conductivity, k, is the
conductance for a standard unit
thickness.
 Thermal Resistance- continued

C=k Btu/h.ft2.°F.in.
Btu/h.ft2.°F
n Thickness in
inches

Thermal resistance
°F/Btu/h.ft2 R=l
1/R range 0.2 ---> 8.0 (per t = 1n)
c
The thermal efficiency of a building’s component/assembly
are normally judged by its accumulative thermal
resistance.
RT = ? Ri of each
U-value

Overal heat transfer coefficient:

U=I thermal
transmittance
 It R Btu/h.ft
isTuseful in determining the2
.°F
overall thermal
performance of a bldg envelope that
includes different construction assemblies in
paral el heat flow.
 Some bldg energy codes give allowable

u- value based on a weighted average for

the coefficients for opaque walls,
windows (fenestration) and doors.
 U‐ VALUE

• A U value is a measure of heat loss in a

building element such as a wall, floor or roof.
• It can also be referred to as an ‘overall heat
transfer co‐efficient’ and measures how well
parts of a building transfer heat.
• This means that the higher the U value the
worse the thermal performance of the
building envelope. (Less insulation)
U‐ VALUE
Caculation of Thermal Gradient
 MULTILAYER BODY

• The resistance of a multi layer body of

different materials will be the sum of
resistances of individual layers.
• The conductance (C) can be found by finding
its total resistance (R) and taking its reciprocal:
• C=1/R
Note that the
conductances are
not additive, only
the resistances.
 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: sol‐air temperature concept. (Effect of
Convection +radiation on building)
• A temperature value is found which would
create the same thermal effect as the incident
radiation in question and this value is added
to air temperature.
SOL‐AIR TEMPERATURE
 SOLAR GAIN FACTOR

• 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.
• Value should not exceed 0.04 in warm humid
climate and 0.03 in hot dry part of composite
climate when ventilation is reduced.