PH-79-11-3 -- Effects of the Thermal Mass on Heating and Cooling Load in Residences PDF

The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of the exterior wall construction parameters on the peak loads.and energy requirements for heating and cooling of a single family- type residential building.

Since residential space heating and cooling systems use approximately 12% of the total energy required in the United States, these systems offer excellent opportunities for significant energy conservation. The effect on thermal environmental systems of the construction of the exterior walls has been studied and is under a continuing investigation. This work was undertaken to try to isolate those factors which may significantly impact either on the size of the thermal environmental systems by peak loads or on the total annual energy requirements.