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Thermal Comfort
Human thermal comfort is the state of mind that expresses satisfaction with the surrounding environment and was first explored by Ole Fanger in the 1970s. Fanger’s studies of thermal comfort found that not everyone will be satisfied by a particular set of environmental conditions, but in ranges of conditions about 80% express satisfaction.The Australian Greenhouse Office defines thermal mass in the following way. "Thermal Mass is the ability of a material to absorb heat energy. A lot of heat energy is required to change the temperature of high density materials like concrete, bricks and tiles. They are therefore said to have high thermal mass. Lightweight materials such as timber have low thermal mass. Appropriate use of thermal mass throughout your home can make a big difference to comfort and heating and cooling bills.
Correct use of thermal mass moderates internal temperatures by averaging day/night (diurnal) extremes. This increases comfort and reduces energy costs.
Poor use of thermal mass can exacerbate the worst extremes of the climate and can be a huge energy and comfort liability. It can radiate heat all night during a summer heatwave, or absorb all the heat you produce on a winter night."
Incorporating materials with inherent thermal mass into buildings will reduce their reliance on mechanical heating and cooling which saves on energy consumption while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Research currently underway at The University of Newcastle proves this and has shown double brick or 'cavity' brick construction to be the most effective way of building thermal mass into the average family home.
The research found that an insulated cavity brick home was almost 18 degrees Celsius cooler than the outside temperature, without any artificial cooling, as temperatures soared to record levels on New Years Day 2006.
