Steel-framed buildings: Impacts of wall detail configurations on the whole wall thermal performance
The main objective of this paper is the influence of architectural wall details on the whole wall thermal performance. Whole wall thermal performance analysis was performed for six light gage steel-framed wall systems (some with wood components). For each wall system, all wall details were simulated using calibrated 3-D finite difference computer modeling. The thermal performance of the six steel-framed wall systems included various system details and the whole wall system thermal performance for a typical single-story ranch house. Currently, predicted heat losses through building walls are typically based on measurements of the wall system clear wall area using test methods such as ASTM C 236 or are calculated by one of the procedures recommended in the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals that often is carried out for the clear wall area exclusively. In this paper, clear wall area is defined as the part of the wall system that is free of thermal anomalies due to building envelope details or thermally unaffected by intersections with other surfaces of the building envelope. Clear wall experiments or calculations normally do not include the effects of building envelope details such as corners, window and door openings, and structural intersections with roofs, floors, ceilings, and other walls. In steel-framed wall systems, these details typically consist of much more structural components than the clear wall. For this situation, the thermal properties measured or calculated for the clear wall area do not adequately represent the total wall system thermal performance. Factors that would impact the ability of today`s standard practice to accurately predict the total wall system thermal performance are the accuracy of the calculation methods, the area of the total wall that is clear wall, and the quantity and thermal performance of the various wall system details.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab., Energy Div., TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Research, Washington, DC (United States); USDOE Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-96OR22464
- OSTI ID:
- 658315
- Report Number(s):
- ORNL/CP-98408; CONF-980650-; ON: DE98005669; BR: EC1206000; TRN: AHC2DT06%%199
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1998 ASHRAE summer annual meeting, Toronto (Canada), 20 Jun 1998; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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