Evaluating the Thermal Performance of Mass Walls Compared to Wood-Framed and Steel-Framed Walls in Residential Buildings using EnergyPlus
- BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)
- VanGeem Consulting, Mount Prospect, Illinois
While homes across the United States are traditionally built using wood-frame construction, mass or concrete walls are popular in certain regions of the country. While, mass walls have certain obvious advantages in terms of energy efficiency compared to the lighter wood-frame or steel-frame walls, conducting hotbox tests and specialized thermal modelling analyses of these walls to evaluate energy performance is often time-consuming and cost-prohibitive. More importantly, heat transfer in real buildings is a dynamic process consisting of the effects of outdoor air temperature and solar gains in conjunction with infiltration and internal gains. These are not captured through isolated hotbox tests or modelling techniques. The latest state-of-art building energy simulation tools can be utilized to overcome these constraints. This paper describes a comprehensive analysis of different wall types using EnergyPlus. The methodology for modelling various wood, steel and mass walls and the development of material properties for use in simulation is described. An overview of the large-scale simulation structure used in the analysis is provided. Resulting energy consumption for various mass walls is included along with a comparison of select mass walls and wood-frame or steel-frame walls.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1591626
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-123082
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings of the 15th IBPSA Conference, Building Simulation 2017, August 7-9, 2017, San Francisco, CA
- Country of Publication:
- Canada
- Language:
- English
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