Thermal mass in building design

Environment
Published: 31 May 2006
Edited: 7 December 2018
by David Baggs LFRAIA and Neal Mortensen
ISSN: 2207-466X

This note was reviewed and approved for currency by the author in December 2018. 

Thermal mass can be effectively employed in buildings to increase occupants' thermal comfort conditions. This paper seeks to clarify the ways in which this can be achieved and specifically investigates how, why, where, when and in what way thermal mass will have the most beneficial impact.

 Note Summary
  1. Introduction
  2. Thermal mass and personal comfort
  3. Thermal mass and internal air temperature
  4. Design considerations
  5. Urban heat island effects
  6. Green roof revolution
  7. Limitations of software
  8. Embodied energy
  9. Conclusion