2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr.
Mays Fouad
Heat transmission through building units
1-Introduction
Buildings are exposed to loss or gain of heat from their external
surroundings, which are known as heat transmission through building units.
Usually in winter heat is loss from inside buildings and transferred through
walls, ceilings and windows to the surroundings outside, and this is known
as heat loss. While in summer season, heat is transferred from the outside
environment to the interior of buildings through their surfaces which is
known as thermal gain. The engineer’s familiarity with how much heat are
lose or gain in the building through their structure is essential to meet the
requirements of thermal comfort and air condition design.
2-Important definition
Thermal Conductivity (K): The letter "k" represents thermal conductivity,
which is the rate of heat transfer through one inch of a homogeneous
material. A material is considered homogeneous when the value of its
thermal conductivity does not depend on its dimension. It is the same
number regardless of the thickness. Thermal conductivity is expressed in
2
(Btu-in/hr ft °F) or (W/m.°C). Materials with lower k-values are better
insulators.
Thermal Conductance (C) thermal conductance, is like thermal
conductivity, is a measure of the rate of heat transfer through a material but
it differs from conductivity (k -value) in one significant way. Thermal
conductance is a specific factor for a given thickness of material whereas
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2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr. Mays Fouad
thermal conductivity is a heat transfer factor per inch of thickness. The lower
the C value, the better the insulator or lower the heat loss.
Typically, building components such as walls or ceilings consist of a
"series" or layers of different materials. The overall C value is not additive
because if you were to take two insulating materials with a C-value of .5
each and were to add them together, you get the result of a total C-value of
1.0. This would mean that the heat flow rate has increased with the addition
of more insulating material. Obviously then you cannot add C-values to find
the "series" value.
Therefore, we now have to bring in the perhaps more familiar "R"-value
which is a measure of a material's Resistance to heat flow and is the inverse
or reciprocal of the material's C-value (R=1/C).
So if a material has a C-value of 0.5, it has an R-value of 2 (1/0.5). If you
have to add two materials in series or layers, say each with a C-value of 0.5,
you take the inverse of both to get an R-value for each of 2. These can be
added together to get a total R-value of 4.
Thermal Resistance (R) is a measure of the ability to retard heat flow in a
given thickness of material. By definition, the resistance of a material to the
flow of heat is the reciprocal of its heat transfer coefficient. In other words,
the R-value is the reciprocal of either the k-value or the C-value.
When a building structure is composed of various layers of construction
elements, the overall total resistance is the sum of all individual resistances
for whole wall, internal air spaces, insulation materials and air films adjacent
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2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr. Mays Fouad
to solid materials. Individual R-values for common building materials can be
checked from the ASHARE fundamentals handbook.
Film or Surface Conductance (h): Heat transfer through any material is
affected by the resistance to heat flow offered by its surface and air in
contact with it. The degree of resistance depends on the type of surface, its
relative roughness or smoothness, its vertical or horizontal position, its
reflective properties, and the rate of airflow over it. It is similar to thermal
0 2 0
conductance and is expressed in Btu/ (hr F ft ) or (W/ C m2).
Overall Coefficient of Heat Transmission (U)
The U-value is the rate of heat flow passing through a square foot of the
material in an hour for every degree Fahrenheit difference in temperature
across the material (Btu/ft2hr°F).
For thermal heat loss calculations, it is normally use U-values which is a
material's C-value but also includes the insulating effect of the air films on
either side of the material. So it is, therefore, a smaller number
As discussed above with C-values, the U-values cannot be added for series
calculations. To obtain a U-value for such an assembly, the individual R-
values of the layers and the air films on either side of the assembly are
added. Then the reciprocal of the total R-value is calculated to get the total
U-value of the assembly (U = 1/R Total).
The U-value measures how well a building component, e.g. a wall, roof or a
window, keeps heat inside a building. For those living in a warm climate the
U-value is also relevant as it is an indicator of how easy it is to keep the
inside of the building cold. The higher the U-value the more heat flows
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2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr. Mays Fouad
through so a good U-value is a low one as you want to keep heat inside the
building or outside depending on the climate you live in. A house built with
low U-value building components will use less energy and thus the building
owner saves money on the energy bill. Using less energy is good for the
environment. Fig. 1 shows the effect of U- value on the heat transmission.
Calculating the U-value is often complicated by the fact that the total
resistance to the flow of heat through a wall made of several layers is the
sum of the resistances of the individual layers.
Fig. 1: effect of U- value on the heat transmission.
3- Heating loss estimation
The heat loss is divided into two groups:
A- The conductive heat losses through the building walls, floor, ceiling,
or other surfaces, Heat loss occurs from a building structure primarily due
to conduction. Because heat moves in all directions, when calculating the
heat loss of a building, we much consider all surfaces (external walls, roof,
ceiling, floor, and glass) that divide the inside, heated space from the
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2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr. Mays Fouad
outside. We refer to that dividing line as the Building Envelope. The heat
loss is determined by equation:
Q = A * U * (Ti – To)
Where
Q = Total hourly rate of heat loss through walls, roof, glass, etc in (Btu/hr)
or in (W)
U = Overall heat-transfer coefficient of walls, roof, ceiling, floor, or glass in
2
(Btu/hr ft °F) or (W/m2 °C)
2
A = Net area of walls, roof, ceiling, floor, or glass in (ft ) or (m2)
Ti = Inside design temperature in (°F) or (°C)
To = Outside design temperature in (°F) or (°C)
The temperature difference between the inside and outside of the building is
the primary cause of heat loss in the winter months. The greater this
difference, the higher the rate of heat loss. Since most buildings are
controlled to a constant inside temperature by the occupants, higher heat loss
occurs when it is colder outside.
B- The convective losses through cracks and openings, or heat required to
warm outdoor air used for ventilation. We will focus on the first type of heat
transmission only in this course.
4- U, K, C, and R coefficients for common materials
Windows are commonly described by their U-values while descriptions of
building walls, floors, or ceilings, often use R-values which are then
converted to U-values by inverse relationship. Table 1 shows the U-values
for different materials.
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2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr. Mays Fouad
Table 1 : the U-values for different materials
Material “U” Value
2
(Btu / hr-ft -°F)
Glass, single 1.13
Glass, double glazing .70
Single film plastic 1.20
Double film plastic .70
Corrugated FRP panels 1.20
Corrugated polycarbonate 1.20
Plastic structured sheet;
.58
16 mm thick
.65
8 mm thick
.72
6 mm thick
Concrete block, 8 inch .57
While Table 2 shows the K, C, and R values for the most common building
materials. Which is used to calculate the heat lose in walls and ceiling.
Table 2 : the K, C, and R values for common building materials
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2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr. Mays Fouad
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2nd lecture Building Service Asst. prof. Dr. Mays Fouad
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