Comparison of thermal performances of plywood shear walls produced with different thermal insulation materials

Abstract

Shear walls are one of the envelopes of light-frame wooden buildings where thermal insulation is most required. The thermal performance of shear walls can vary according to the type, properties and thickness of the wood and insulation materials used in their production. In this study, it was aimed to compare the thermal performances of plywood shear walls produced with different thermal insulation materials. For this aim, the archetype walls with properties similar to commonly used plywood shear walls were designed and produced for each thermal insulation material type and wood specie. The shear wall groups were formed by using Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), black pine (Pinus nigra) and spruce (Picea orientalis) as wood species and cellulose, flax, felt, XPS, EPS, sheep’s, rock and glass wool as thermal insulation materials. Thermal conductivity of the shear wall groups was determined according to the ASTM C518-04 standard. Thermal resistance and other thermal performance parameters were calculated using the thermal conductivity values. As a result of the study, rock wool was the best thermal insulation material among the Scots pine shear wall groups while glass wool was the best thermal insulation material among the black pine and spruce shear wall groups. The shear walls produced with EPS foam boards indicated the worst thermal performance among all groups

Keywords

• plywood
• shear wall
• thermal conductivity
• thermal insulation materials