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Impact of Columns and Beams on the Thermal Resistance of the Building Envelope
Abstract
This paper addresses the effect of thermal bridging
due to columns and beams on energy consumption and
peak load requirements of typical private residential
villas in Kuwait. Although it is common practice to
apply thermal insulation to walls and roofs, columns
and beams are often not considered. The local climate
pattern coupled with uninsulated skeleton structure of
reinforced concrete that forms 27% of the external total
wall area can have a significant effect on the thermal
resistance of the buildings envelope. Multi-dimensional
heat transfer method was implemented to assess the
magnitude of this effect and then to incorporate this in
a whole building energy simulation program to assess
the impact on the overall thermal performance of the
buildings considered. It was found that the thermal
resistance of constructions can be reduced by 48% due
to uninsulated columns and beams. In addition, the
average effect on the overall annual energy
consumption and peak load demand for Kuwaiti type
villas was found to be 1.8% and 2.3% respectively.
Citation
Omar, E. (2002). Impact of Columns and Beams on the Thermal Resistance of the Building Envelope. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /5169.