06-05-2024

CLIMATOLOGY
THERMAL QUANTITIES/PROPERTIES

• Lecture 8
• Date :26-04-24

TOPICS
1. Thermal Quantities.
2. Thermal conductivity/resistivity
3. Thermal resistance/conductance
4. Thermal transmittance
5. Effect of multilayered bodies
6. Time lag & Decrement factor
7. Thermal behavior of building elements and
materials.
8. Thermal Resistance
9. Thermal bridging

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PERIODIC HEAT FLOW

In nature the variation of climatic conditions produces a non steady state. Diurnal
variations produce an approximately repetitive 24-hour cycle of increasing and
decreasing temperatures .

Effect of this variation on Buildings

In hot periods heat flows from the environment into the building , where some of
it is stored and at night during the cool period the heat flow is reversed from the
building to the environment.

As the cycle is repetitive , it is described as periodic heat flow

Time lag & Decrement factor

• Decrement factor is the ratio of the Maximum inner surface temp amplitude to
max outer surface temperature amplitude
• If time lag is more then decrement factor is less

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Time lag & Decrement factor

The rate at which any material will transmit heat depends on two factors:

1 if it is of a high conductivity material, this rate will be faster.

2 if it is a dense material and it has a high specific heat, the rate will be slower, as
it will absorb much of the incoming heat before it can start transmitting any

φ = 10 hours for each 0.3 m

thickness.

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Lag-time and moderation of temperatures due to thermal mass

Time lag & Decrement factor

Effect of insulation
Periodic heat flow calculation
With a 100-mm concrete slab, the placing
of a 40 mm glass wool insulation gives
the following variation:

1. Insulation on the outside reduces the heat flow rate into the mass – less heat will
enter the mass in a given time, or, it will take much longer to 'fill up' the thermal
storage capacity of the mass.
2. Insulation on the inside will not affect the 'filling up' process and, although it will
reduce the heat emission to the inside space, it will not change the periodicity.

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Thermal Capacity (Thermal Mass)

Density x Specific Heat = How much heat can be stored per unit volume

Thermal capacity is an indicator of the ability of a material to store heat per unit
volume. The greater the thermal capacity of a material, the more heat it can store in
a given volume per degree of temperature increase. Thermal capacity for a material
is obtained by taking the product of density and specific heat. Units are J/K.

Higher thermal capacity can (but will not always) reduce heat flow from the
outside to the inside environment by storing the heat within the material. Heat
entering a wall construction during the daytime, for example, can be stored within
the wall for several hours until it flows back out to the cool night air—assuming
appropriate weather conditions and adequate thermal capacity.

Specific heat capacity of different building materials

Material
Heat capacity

J/(g·K)

Brick 0.84
Concrete 0.88
Granite 0.79
Gypsum 1.09
Soil 0.80
Wood 1.2-2.3
Water 4.2

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Means of thermal control

1. Mechanical controls
2. Structural controls
3. Ventilation and air movement

1. Mechanical controls

Using U-factors and R-values in practice

The variety of terms used so far to express thermal properties is potentially
bewildering. When dealing with complex layered building constructions, it’s
useful to combine thermal properties into a single overall number for
specifying envelope design criteria.

For the total building envelope, this is often expressed as a U-factor. That
said, windows are often expressed with U-factor and walls are often
expressed with R-values. There is no strict rule.

Calculating the overall U-factor starts with adding resistances. U-factors are
calculated for a particular element (roof, wall, etc.) by finding the resistance
of each constituent part, including air films and air spaces, and then adding
these resistances to obtain a total resistance. The U-factor is the reciprocal
of this sum (Σ) of resistances: U= 1/ Σ R.

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Thermal Resistance (R-value = 1/U)

A material’s ability to resist heat flow.

Designated as R (R-value), thermal resistance indicates how effective any

material is as an insulator.
The reciprocal of thermal conductance, R is measured in hours needed for 1
Btu to flow through 1 ft2 of a given thickness of a material when the
temperature difference is 1ºF. In the Imperial system, the units
are ft2•°F•hr/BTU. SI units are m²K/W

Insulation, which prevents heat flow through the building envelope, is often
measured by its R-value. A higher R-value indicates a better insulating
performance.

Thermal conductivity is typically for homogeneous materials. For

inhomogeneous materials (e.g. concretes or composite panels), their average
thermal conductivity is referred to as the apparent thermal conductivity.

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Video for Thermal Properties of Materials

https://sustainabilityworkshop.venturewell.org/node/1430.html

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