Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

An analysis of different insulation strategies for earth-sheltered buildings

Conference ·
OSTI ID:33303
 [1]
  1. Warsaw Univ. of Technology (Poland). Dept. of Architecture
This paper provides a comparative analysis of the energy performance of various insulation configurations for earth-sheltered buildings. It discusses the effectiveness of each insulation configuration in reducing the heating and cooling load. The long-term unsteady thermal processes between the building and the surrounding soil are considered. The mathematical model of the problem consists of a heat conduction equation with appropriate boundary and initial conditions. The variations in outside air temperature are driven by a harmonic function. The set of algebraic equations obtained by balancing the elementary heat flows into control elements is solved by an explicit scheme. The simulation program enables a two-dimensional thermal analysis in two cross sections for an underground building of any size situated at any depth. It predicts the heat flow between the building and the surrounding soil and through the ground`s surface. Internal building surface and soil temperatures are also calculated.
OSTI ID:
33303
Report Number(s):
CONF-9406105--
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Analysis of transient heat loss in earth-sheltered structures
Technical Report · Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1980 · OSTI ID:6328124

Two-dimensional heat transfer from earth-sheltered buildings
Journal Article · Wed Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1990 · Journal of Solar Energy Engineering; (USA) · OSTI ID:5783093

Computer simulation of heat transfer from earth sheltered structures: A comparison of varying levels of earth sheltering in five different climates
Conference · Sun Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1980 · Alternative Energy Sources; (United States) · OSTI ID:7121539