Energy and cost savings of optimal thickness for selected insulation materials and air gaps for building walls in tropical climate

Air conditioning usage in buildings is one of the major energy consumption sources due to thermal comfort requirement in tropical climate. An efficient building thermal insulation can reduce the energy consumption for cooling systems due to heat transfer from ambient. Therefore, it is crucial to study the effectiveness of energy saving by thermal insulation for buildings. In this study, the savings of ten selected building thermal insulation materials on the energy consumption of air-conditioning for cooling are evaluated based on tropical climate condition in Malaysia. The life-cycle cost analysis is conducted is calculated based on the energy savings. The results have revealed that life cycle cost is varying from 73 to 85%/m(2) wall and energy saving from 85 to 92%/m(2) wall, which can be achieved depending on the insulation material used at their optimal thickness. The insulations Stropor exhibit optimal results in terms of economic benefits. The energy savings of air gap in the wall construction is also investigated for the selected insulation material. It is found that additional 0.64%/m(2) wall of life cycle cost savings can be achieved by applying 6 cm air gap at the selected insulation at optimal thickness.