Optimum thermal insulation thickness for building under different climate regions - a review

This review paper aims to provide an updated review of the literature on the optimum thermal insulation thickness for building under different climate regions. However, there is a limited amount of literature that has been published recently to determine the optimum thermal insulation thickness in different climates regions by using a different insulation materials and various techniques in the analysis This study therefore provides an excellent road map on determination of the optimum insulation thickness in buildings and its impact on the environment and the energy saving. Different insulation materials, different optimization and the economic analysis methods which are used in the studies were presented and summarized in a useful table. The present paper also presents the concept of the optimum thermal insulation and the selection of insulation materials in an economical way to give the minimum cost which is necessary to reduce the energy consumption and the environmental pollution in different countries. The degree-time method which is considered the most common method used in studies to calculate the heating and cooling loads is also explained. Moreover, the most commonly method used for the thermal insulation thickness optimization for building which is called the life cycle cost (LCC) analysis is also investigated.