Heat transfer tests on EPS material and massive timber wall component

Abstract: Timber walls are known to be an energy efficient component in the building envelope. These building elements are essential in the passive design and have been pointed out to their ability to regulate the indoor climate and reduce energy demand. Heat transfer measurements of thermal transmittance value of Iso-timber wall component have been performed with the climate chamber at three temperature differences. The influence of temperature variations on the thermal conduction of the wall were investigated. The temperature on the warm side was kept at room temperature 20 °C while the cold side temperature was decreased from 0 C to -20 C during the tests. As the temperature difference is increased, the thermal transmittance value of the timber wall component decreased slightly due to decrease in the thermal conductivity value. The effect of density and porosity on the thermal conductivity may be related to the presence of air voids and cell boundaries inside the timber wall. Results have showed that the U-value of the timber wall component decreases at higher temperature differences which indicates the higher degree of insulation of the timber wall component.