Insulating Concrete Masonry Walls
and limitations with regard to each of these insulation strategies. The choice of insulation will depend on the desired thermal properties, climate conditions, ease of construction, cost, and other design criteria. Note that insulation position within the wall can impact dew point location, and hence affect the condensation potential. See TEK 06-17B, Condensation Control in Concrete Masonry Walls (ref. 1) for more detailed information. Similarly, some insulations can act as an air barrier when installed continuously and with sealed joints. See TEK 06-14B, Control of Infiltration in Concrete Masonry Walls, (ref. 2) for further information.
Concrete Masonry Radiant Heating/Cooling Systems
Radiant heat has long been popular due to its comfort, quiet operation and cleanliness. The radiant element is directly coupled to the adjacent room, with no drafts or convection currents common with forced air systems. Duct noise and dust distribution is also reduced.
Passive Solar Design
Passive solar design involves utilizing a building’s basic elements walls, windows and floors—to produce a comfortable environment with less reliance on mechanical heating and cooling. Passive solar systems can provide space heating, natural ventilation, cooling load avoidance, daylighting and water heating. The U. S. Department of Energy estimates that 30 to 50% energy cost reductions are economically realistic in new office design with an optimum mix of energy conservation and passive solar design strategies (ref. 1). In addition, most passive solar design strategies integrate well with active solar applications such as photovoltaics.
Energy Code Compliance Using Comcheck™
COMcheckTM (ref. 1) is software developed by the U.S. Department of Energy specifically for demonstrating compliance with nationally recognized energy codes. Versions are available for download (for various software platforms) as well as for online use. Using the tradeoff compliance method allowed by energy codes, such as COMcheck software, may provide more design flexibility when compared to prescriptive table requirements. For example, parameters such as fenestration area can be increased above the prescriptive limitations, and the additional energy demand offset by adjusting fenestration characteristics and/or increasing roof or wall insulation levels. In addition, once the basic building description has been entered into the program and saved, design changes and/or the building location can be quickly modified, and compliance immediately redetermined. COMcheck has another advantage in that various national and state energy codes and energy standards are included within the program, making it easy for designers who work in several states to be able to use the same compliance tool for many different project locations.
R-Values and U-Factors of Single Wythe Concrete Masonry Walls
Single wythe concrete masonry walls are often constructed of hollow units with cores filled with insulation and/or grout. This construction method allows insulation and reinforcement to be used to increase thermal and structural performance, respectively, without increasing the wall thickness.
R-Values of Multi-Wythe Concrete Masonry Walls
Multi-wythe concrete masonry construction lends itself to placing insulation between two wythes of masonry when the wythes are separated to form a cavity. Placing insulation between two wythes of masonry offers maximum protection for the insulation while allowing a vast amount of the thermal mass to be exposed to the conditioned interior to help moderate temperatures. Masonry cavity walls can easily meet or exceed energy code requirements, because the cavity installation allows a continuous layer of insulation to envelop the masonry. When properly sealed, this continuous insulation layer can also increase energy efficiency by mitigating air infiltration/exfiltration.