Energy simulation for a typical house built with different types of masonry building materials

Abstract EN

The building energy analysis program DOE-2.1E was used to simulate the annual energy consumption for a typical residential house built with different types of masonry building materials.

The results show that for the base house the thermal transmission through the walls and roof constitutes more than half of the total peak cooling load.

It was found that a house built with gypsum block a causes a maximum reduction of 13.2 % in energy consumption when compared to that of the base house.

However, insulating the base house causes a significant reduction in the airconditioning equipment capacity and consequently reduction in energy consumption by about 42 %.

Savings in energy by using the option of gypsum block walls or insulating the walls and roof should be weighed against the additional investment and payback period for the options.