Comparison of the thermal insulation materials in the buildings

The consumption of energy resources on the world is increasing rapidly. With the developing industry, technology and urbanization, energy demand is also growing. For this reason, countries have had to follow various policies regarding the efficient use of energy and have developed new standards. Measures for energy saving should be taken in the building sector which is one of the sectors where energy consumption is most realized. In order to prevent heat loss and provide effective energy usage in houses, thermal insulation application is required. In this study, optimum insulation thicknesses were calculated for a sample building in Ankara. The calculations were made by TS 825 standard and life cycle cost analysis. For economic analyzes, the present worth method and the P1-P2 method were used. The results for 5 different insulation materials and 2 different wall types are presented in graphs and tables. According to the TS 825 calculation method, optimum insulation thicknesses vary between 4,4 cm and 7,9 cm, and pay-back periods vary between 5,1 and 6,6 years. It is determined that energy saving is between 60,6% and 63,3%. The optimum insulation thicknesses calculated according to present worth method and P1-P2 method were changed between 1,3 cm and 5,1 cm and 2,3 cm and 6,5 cm, respectively. There are certain reasons for the difference in the results found. The TS 825 calculation method considers the building as a whole and considers all the heat losses that occur in the building. In the calculations, all costs was taken into consideration for the cost of insulation applied to the outer walls. In the life cycle cost analysis, calculations are made on the wall section. This can be interpreted as a drawback of the method. Besides, the total insulation cost was made taking into account the price of m3 of the insulation material. Other costs are not taken into account. This can be considered as a drawback of the method also. Key words Thermal insulation; TS 825; Life cycle cost analysis; Present worth method; P1-P2 method.