The future of our planet depends on people believing in and acting upon science. Here is what scientists say: Thermal Mass - Energy Savings Potential in Residential Buildings

J. Kosny, T. Petrie, D. Gawin, P. Childs, A Desjarlais, and J.Christian Buildings Technology Center, ORNL

ABSTRACT:

"In certain climates, massive building envelopes-such as masonry, concrete, earth, and insulating concrete forms (ICFs)-can be utilized as one of the simplest ways of reducing building heating and cooling loads. Very often such savings can be achieved in the design stage of the building and on a relatively low-cost basis. Such reductions in building envelope heat losses combined with optimized material configuration and the proper amount of thermal insulation in the building envelope help to reduce the building cooling and heating energy demands and building related CO2 emission into the atmosphere. Thermal mass effects occur in buildings containing walls, floors, and ceilings made of logs, heavy masonry, and concrete

This data shows that the most effective wall assemblies were walls with thermal mass (concrete) being in good contact with the interior of the building (Intmass and CIC). Walls where the insulation material is concentrated on the interior side (Extmass) were the worst performing wall assemblies. Wall configurations with the concrete wall core and insulation placed on both sides of the wall (ICI) performed slightly better than Extmass configurations. However, their performance was significantly worse than CIC and Intmass configurations. The ICI configuration can be used for approximate analysis of the very popular Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) constructions, since ICF walls consist of the internal concrete core placed between shells made of insulating foam." Please. Believe in science. And then act upon it. Let's talk about your next NRG project. Call or e-mail Marty Walters, General Manager NRG Insulated Block mjww@verizon.net (716)947-9298 9am-5pm EST