RP-701 -- Assessment of Soil Thermal Conductivity for Use in Building Design and Analysis PDF

This report describes: 1. the development and documentation of a databse of soil thermal properties and 2. a methodology for the assessment of site-specific apparent soil thermal conductivity for building design purposes. The database is compiled from available laboratory and field data and contains 9618 data entries on the thermal properties of soil or rock from approximately 120 references. The methodology was developed to provide guidance in selecting reasonable thermal conductivities even when detailed site and soil information is not available and is divided into four levels of assessment covering the circumstances when 1. little or no soil informstion is available, 2. the general soil type is known, 3. various soil parameters are known or can be measured in the laboratory and 4. field measurement of soil thermal conductivity is possible. Building heat transfer applications are the principal applications considered.

Units: Dual