Life-Cycle Analysis of Roofing Insulation Levels for Cold Storage Buildings
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 15, Issue 2
Abstract
To reduce operating costs, cold storage buildings are being designed with increasing levels of thermal roof insulation. This paper examines the current state of the art in order to estimate average roof insulation requirements in modern cold storage buildings. This research includes both economic and environmental considerations. The added environmental impact of manufacturing thermal insulation is compared to the reduced environmental impact of the building’s cooling load. The cost of purchasing and installing additional roof insulation is also compared to the annual energy savings associated with the increase to establish the most economic insulating level given today’s cost of energy. This paper shows that, from an economic, as well as from an environmental performance perspective, there is a need to design more efficient, sustainable cold storage buildings now.
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© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Feb 13, 2008
Accepted: Sep 26, 2008
Published online: May 15, 2009
Published in print: Jun 2009
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