M. C. Swinton

Synthetically derived profiles for representing occupant-driven electric loads in Canadian housing

As one objective of the International Energy Agencys Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community Systems Programme Annex 42, detailed Canadian household electrical demand profiles were created using a bottom-up approach from available inputs, including a detailed appliance set, annual consumption targets and occupancy patterns. These profiles were created for use in the simulation of residential cogeneration devices to examine the issues of system performance, efficiency and emission reduction potential. This article describes the steps taken to generate these 5-min electrical consumption profiles for three target single-family detached households – low, medium and high consumers, a comparison of the generated output with measured data from Hydro Québec, and a demonstration of the use of the new profiles in building performance simulations of residential cogeneration devices.

Three-dimensional analysis of thermal resistance of exterior basement insulation systems (EIBS)

Abstract A consortium 1 research project was initiated to determine the field performance of various thermal insulation products as applied in the exterior insulation basement system (EIBS). Initially a two-dimensional (2-D) analytical tool was used to derive the thermal transmission characteristics from an array of temperature measurements performed over a period of two years. Results immediately showed the influence of lateral heat flux between various products that differed in thermal transmission properties. Therefore, development of a three-dimensional (3-D) model became imperative. This paper gives the theoretical and numerical approaches adopted to develop a 3-D computer model of heat transfer. The implicit Spline Method was selected for the problem solver. The applicability of the model was verified using measured data on temperature distributions at several material interfaces. Then the model was used to estimate the effect of lateral heat flows. The paper also briefly reports the experimental details and presents results on model verification.

In situ performance of expanded molded polystyrene in the Exterior Basement Insulation Systems (EIBS)

Several different Exterior Basement Insulation Systems (EIBS) were built and instrumented as part of the basement consortium2 research project. These EIBS specimens were instrumented prior to back filling with soil, and their in situ thermal performance was monitored over two years. Soil temperatures and moisture content were monitored concurrently. Weather data were recorded on a daily basis. Through analysis of the measured surface temperature records, the presence of water was detected at the outer surface during various periods of heavy rain and major thaws throughout the two-year period. During these periods, the surface of the concrete showed no evidence of water penetration through the insulation layer over most of the height of the basement wall. Since the test setup involved different thermal insulating materials placed next to each other, the presence of lateral heat flow was inevitable. Both 2-D and 3-D models were used to quantify the lateral heat flow across the edges of different in sulating materials. The measured spatial and temporal temperature profiles were used as boundary conditions. The thermal performance of each insulation specimen was found to remain sta ble over the two-year period and was not significantly affected by episodes of wa ter movement at the exterior face of the specimens. The thermal resistance of

Assessment of Energy Rating of Polyurethane Spray Foam Walls: Procedure and Interim Results

The application of polyurethane spray foam (SPF) insulation in buildings provides a durable and efficient thermal barrier. The industry is also promoting the SPF as an effective air barrier system in addition to its thermal insulation characteristics. In an effort to address these issues, a consortium of SPF manufacturers and contractors, jointly with the National Research Council of Canada’s Institute for Research in Construction conducted an extensive research project to assess the thermal and air leakage characteristics of SPF walls as well as conventional wall assemblies. The objective is to develop analytical and experimental procedures to determine a wall energy rating (WER) that captures both the thermal and airleakage performance of a wall assembly. The experimental part included two streams of testing: (1) To determine the wall air leakage rate at different conditions and (2) their thermal resistance, R-value, at different temperature differences. An analytical procedure was also developed to calculate WER by combining the heat loss due to thermal transmission and that due to air leakage with the aim of arriving at WER. Six conventional full-scale wood frame wall assemblies were built, two with glass fiber batts and of four with medium density SPF. Some walls were constructed without penetrations and others were built with penetrations. The testing regime included: (i) Initial testing of air leakage and thermal resistance; (ii) conditioning in the dynamic wall test facility according to an established routine; and (iii) retesting for air leakage and thermal resistance. This paper presents the results of six walls included in this project. The focus of this paper will be on presenting a brief summary of the project objective, testing protocol, and the theoretical approach to determine the WER number for the six walls.