- Author
- Burch, D. M. | Licitra, B. A. | Ebberts, D. F. | Zarr, R. R.
- Title
- Thermal Resistance Measurements and Calculations of an Insulated Concrete Block Wall. Final Report.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD Department of Energy, Washington, DC
- Journal
- ASHRAE Transactions, Vol. 96, No. Part 1, 395-404, 1989
- Keywords
- concrete blocks; thermal resistance; thermal insulation; thermal measurements; walls; temperature gradients; polystyrene; temperature; reprints
- Abstract
- Thermal resistance measurements of an insulated concrete block wall were conducted using a calibrated hot box at four different mean temperatures. The hollow concrete block wall was insulated by installing partial-size inserts composed of expanded polystyrene insulation with reflective air spaces into the cores of the blocks. The thermal resistance measurements were compared with the ASHRAE isothermal plane and parallel path methods. The isothermal plane method was subsequently used to calculate the thermal resistance of uninsulated concrete block, concrete block with full-size insulation inserts, and concrete block with partial-size insulation inserts. Both ways of insulating the concrete block increased the thermal resistance of the uninsulated block by more than a factor of three.