Design of residential buildings utilizing natural thermal storage. Final report
The thermal storage capacity found in the materials of conventional building construction affect the heating and cooling requirements of buildings and the long-term efficiency of the space conditioning equipment used to meet these demands. The quantity of this natural thermal storage (NTS) can be increased through architectural design to improve overall building thermal performance and decrease the consumption of conventional fuels used for space conditioning. Improvements in performance come about when heating or cooling peak loads are reduced, when previously poorly used natural energy sources are tapped, or when conventional system efficiencies are increased. The capability of NTS materials to absorb, store and release thermal energies can be used advantageously to bring about these improvements. The technical and economic feasibility of these uses of NTS in residental construction in the north central and northeast US is examined. For many NTS applications, the percentage savings in heating and cooling are impressive, but the actual value of the energy saved is found to be insufficient to justify the incremental cost of NTS over reasonable levels of insulation and other energy strategies. NTS in the form of modified Trombe walls, when combined with energy conserving construction methods, is found to be an effective, available and marketable system. A prototypical residence incorporating this NTS system is designed for instrumentation and as a demonstration of NTS principles. Annual space conditioning costs are reduced to one-third of those found in new construction built to current codes, and less than one-fifth the costs found in typical existing homes.
- Research Organization:
- Total Environmental Action, Inc., Harrisville, NH (USA)
- DOE Contract Number:
- EY-76-C-02-0016
- OSTI ID:
- 6140618
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/TIC-10143
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
25 ENERGY STORAGE
BUILDING MATERIALS
HEAT STORAGE
HEAT TRANSFER
HOUSES
DESIGN
ENERGY CONSERVATION
COOLING LOAD
ECONOMICS
EFFICIENCY
FURNACES
GRAPHS
HEATING LOAD
NUMERICAL DATA
THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT
USA
BUILDINGS
DATA
DATA FORMS
ENERGY STORAGE
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
INFORMATION
MATERIALS
NORTH AMERICA
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
STORAGE
320101* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Residential Buildings- (-1987)
250600 - Energy Storage- Thermal