Concrete may be cold and hard, but some energy- efficient builders have been warming to insulating concrete forms (ICFs). As ICFs become more common, home performance professionals need to know how they're built and how well they work
This report summarizes the findings of comparative field tests and analysis sponsored by the Govenor's Office of Energy Conservation in Colorado on production housing models using both fiberglass and cellulose Insulation materials. The participating company was McStaln Enterprises, a mid-size (250 homes/year) production builder based In Boulder Colorado. Field test coordination and energy analysis were conducted by SOCTECH (State of Colorado Technical Energy Consultants for Homebuilders) .
The two-dimensional, transient numerical model of heat and water vapor convection and diffusion during air exfiltration within fiberglass insulation, presented in Part /, is validated in Part II, with experimental data for temperature, moisture and frost accumulation, and heat flux. With a few exceptions, the simulation results and experimental data agree within the experimental uncertainty. Exfiltration airflow in the two-dimensional space showed strong entrance and exit effects for temperature, moisture and frost accumulation, and heat flux on the cold side.
Central Europe is, especially in the residential sector, a region using mainly hydronic systems with static heat transfer surfaces, which operate noiselessly and with slow air movements. Cooling is - as yet - not required. This implies that air-heating systems are not very common in Austria. However, new improved building standards may change this situation, because the specific heat load is significantly reduced. In the building sector, both energy savings and a reduction in C02 emissions can be achieved relatively quickly.
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