The thermal performance of a prototype dynamically insulated wall

Abstract

The concept of dynamic insulation is to draw air from the outside into a building through air permeable insulation, thereby collecting heat usually lost to the outside by conduction. The performance of the dynamic insulation can be characterized by a dynamic U-value, which is a function of the air velocity. As part of a wider study of dynamic insulation, an outdoor PASSYS test cell was used to determine the thermal performance of a prototype dynamically insulated wall for a range of air velocities. The thermal transmission losses, solar gains and ventilation heat recovery have been determined over a range of ventilation rates through the wall. The in‘ uence of the air‘ ow rate on the air supply and internal wall surface temperatures was also investigated.