TRANSLATIONAL DYNAMIC INSULATION SYSTEM FOR SWITCHABLE BUILDING ENVELOPES

A large percentage of residential and commercial energy usage is spent on indoor space conditioning. This includes the heating and cooling of indoor environments to benefit human comfort. To isolate the indoor environment from the ambient, insulation is used within external wall cavities. The measure of the insulation’s ability to impede heat transfer is generally given by a standard known as the R-Value. Wall cavities with higher R-values are generally advantageous throughout the year, but in some situations, greater thermal resistance can make it harder to regulate indoor temperatures effectively. The purpose of this research is to introduce a novel dynamic insulation system with a variable R-value, capable of using exterior climate conditions to sustain a set interior temperature. The system achieves this by moving a piece of insulation parallel to the wall, which allows for a variation in the wall’s thermal resistance. An analytical model was used to develop the appropriate geometric configuration of the active wall cavity. With this configuration, modeling results suggest thermal resistance values ranging from 1.56-2.88 m²°K/W (8.83-16.37 ft² ∙ ℉ ∙ hr/BTU). Experimentation was used to validate the model, and it revealed that adjustments needed to be made to the model to account for thermal contact resistances across the wall. These contact resistances are a result of the thermal energy stored within the wall’s insulating materials. In conclusion, this system shows promise in being able to control the thermal resistance of an exterior wall by changing the geometric configuration of the insulation within.