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Study of the economical and optimum thermal insulation thickness for buildings in a wet and hot tropical climate: Case of Cameroon

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  • Nematchoua, Modeste Kameni
  • Raminosoa, Chrysostôme R.R.
  • Mamiharijaona, Ramaroson
  • René, Tchinda
  • Orosa, José A.
  • Elvis, Watis
  • Meukam, Pierre

Abstract

In Cameroon, these last centuries, an increase in energy demand for cooling and heating in buildings has been witnessed all over the world. Solutions must be proposed by researchers and specialists of buildings to remedy this situation. In this study, a literature review on the thermal insulation applications to external walls of buildings was presented, and a case was investigated in a tropical wet and hot climate. The economic model including the cost of insulation material and the present value of energy consumption and the cost over a lifetime of 22 years of the building, were used to find the optimum insulation thickness, energy saving, and payback period, for buildings in Cameroon. Materials that extruded polystyrene were chosen and used for two typical wall structures (Concrete block (HCB) and compressed stabilized earth block wall (CSEB)). The yearly cooling transmission loads, according to wall orientations and percentage of radiation blocked were calculated using the explicit finite-difference method under steady periodic conditions. As a result, it was found that the lowest value of optimum insulation thickness (0.09m) and energy savings (79.80%) were obtained for the south-oriented wall, while the payback period (4.73years) was the highest on the same face compared to all wall orientations. Insulation optimum thickness was higher in the HCB wall (0.0983m) than in CSEB wall (0.0958m), however, the payback period was the weakest for the HCB wall compared to the other wall type.

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  • Nematchoua, Modeste Kameni & Raminosoa, Chrysostôme R.R. & Mamiharijaona, Ramaroson & René, Tchinda & Orosa, José A. & Elvis, Watis & Meukam, Pierre, 2015. "Study of the economical and optimum thermal insulation thickness for buildings in a wet and hot tropical climate: Case of Cameroon," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1192-1202.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:50:y:2015:i:c:p:1192-1202
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2015.05.066
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    10. Al-Sanea, Sami A. & Zedan, M.F., 2011. "Improving thermal performance of building walls by optimizing insulation layer distribution and thickness for same thermal mass," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(9), pages 3113-3124.
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    2. Xiaojun Liu & Xin Chen & Mehdi Shahrestani, 2020. "Optimization of Insulation Thickness of External Walls of Residential Buildings in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-21, February.
    3. Luis M. López-Ochoa & Jesús Las-Heras-Casas & Luis M. López-González & César García-Lozano, 2020. "Energy Renovation of Residential Buildings in Cold Mediterranean Zones Using Optimized Thermal Envelope Insulation Thicknesses: The Case of Spain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-34, March.
    4. Fabiana Silvero & Fernanda Rodrigues & Sergio Montelpare, 2019. "A Parametric Study and Performance Evaluation of Energy Retrofit Solutions for Buildings Located in the Hot-Humid Climate of Paraguay—Sensitivity Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, January.
    5. Villasmil, Willy & Fischer, Ludger J. & Worlitschek, Jörg, 2019. "A review and evaluation of thermal insulation materials and methods for thermal energy storage systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 71-84.
    6. Nematchoua, Modeste Kameni & Orosa, Jose A. & Buratti, Cinzia & Obonyo, Esther & Rim, Donghyun & Ricciardi, Paola & Reiter, Sigrid, 2020. "Comparative analysis of bioclimatic zones, energy consumption, CO2 emission and life cycle cost of residential and commercial buildings located in a tropical region: A case study of the big island of ," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C).
    7. Robert Dylewski & Janusz Adamczyk, 2021. "Optimum Thickness of Thermal Insulation with Both Economic and Ecological Costs of Heating and Cooling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Jacek Kasperski & Oluwafunmilola Oladipo, 2023. "Energy, Volume and Cost Analyses of High Temperature Seasonal Thermal Storage for Plus Energy House," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(12), pages 1-21, June.
    9. Jung Ho Kim & Young Il Kim, 2021. "Optimal Combination of External Wall Insulation Thickness and Surface Solar Reflectivity of Non-Residential Buildings in the Korean Peninsula," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-24, March.

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