Effect of the thermal insulators on the thermal and energetic performance of the envelope of a house located in Marrakesh

Abstract

Thermal insulation has become essential, firstly to ensure the thermal comfort of the occupants and secondly to save energy and that’s why we find more and more varieties of insulators (organic, inorganic and synthetic) in the Moroccan market, depending on the need when to make the right choice. This paper presents the theoretical part of a thermal and an energetic study of the envelop of a house located in the city of Marrakesh (Morocco), by using four types of insulators, that are mostly used in Moroccan markets, for different thicknesses to determine the most suitable insulator for Marrakech climate and its optimal thickness. The insulators studied are: Expanded Polystyrene, glass wool, rock wool and wood fiber. The numerical simulations were realized using the software of thermal dynamic simulation TRNSYS. The results show that for a thickness of 8 cm of the wood fiber insulator saves about 7% for heating and 14% for cooling loads. For temperatures, in January temperatures are higher by 0.26 °C, and in July are lower by 0.49 °C. Keywords: Thermal comfort, Energy consumption, Thermal insulation, Thermal dynamic simulation, TRNSYS