CFD Analysis of Heat Transfer in an Innovative Facade System

Abstract: New innovative façade systems that are well thought out, rational, sustainable and energy efficient are needed for renovation of old buildings to drastically reduce the heat losses through walls and to improve indoor conditions. In order to achieve the above mentioned goal, new innovative modular systems that can be mounted on site with ease are an interesting alternative. The system can reduce heat losses dramatically while a ventilated air gap can make the adjacent wall less susceptible to damages caused by moisture. In this work heat transfer analysis in a vertical insulating air cavity is investigated and validated with experiments. The thesis work aims to bring new innovate design tools as well as methodology in the field of advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology. Transient methods have together with an appropriate turbulence model been applied and a commercial finite volume code has been used to predict the complex mode of heat transfer due to the difference in density in the flow field. i.e ‘Natural Convection’.