How Right Thickness of the Insulation Can Save Capex
There are several passive ways to reduce the heat gain of buildings and decrease the energy consumption. In this article, we will discuss a very effective technique- Insulation
Insulation on walls reduces heat gain or heat loss from an indoor environment to an outdoor environment and maintains the thermal comfort of the room.
India is a very hot country, and, in many cities, people use air conditioning all the time. Mostly because of a wrong building orientation and lack of wall insulation. This increases the HVAC load and capital costs, increases the electricity bills for residents, and on a larger scale contributes to global warming.
While creating high-performance buildings, wall insulation is becoming very important. The key is to select the right thickness of insulation to maintain indoor thermal comfort while balancing cost implications.
Building simulations prove that increasing the wall insulation thickness beyond a certain point doesn’t have a significant impact on the reduction of energy consumption in buildings.
The diagram shows different scenarios of wall insulation thickness. A reduction of 0.5% is observed from a wall with no insulation to a wall with an addition of 25mm thick wall insulation. Further, an addition of 50mm thick wall insulation results in a 0.2% reduction in energy consumption.
Beyond this point, a very minimal reduction in energy consumption is observed. Thus, it is important to optimize the insulation thickness based on performance rather than investing in a huge thickness of insulating material and expecting a big decrease in building envelope performance.
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