Thermal Control

The control of heat flow within and through buildings is important to ensure comfort, health, and productivity. Controlling temperatures also has a major impact on durability and the potential for mold growth. Controlling heat flow is of course required to save energy and reduce the environmental impacts of this energy use. Insulations are basic tools for controlling heat flow, but thermal bridging must be understood to limit heat loss through conductive materials and elements in the building enclosure. Assessing interior surface condensation and comfort are dominated by an understanding of surface temperature. Heat flows by many modes, and one of the most important is by air movement. Whether within an air handling unit or through a roof heat transfer by air flow is important. One of the largest sources of energy flows in many buildings is the sun: solar gain through windows dominates the air conditioning loads of commercial buildings, and can be harvested for both space and water heating in carefully designed buildings.

Physics of Thermal Control — by zope — last modified 2006/02/26

 

Heat flow basics — by zope — last modified 2006/02/26