Designing Buildings Wikipedia (DBW) – host platform for IHBC’s Conservation Wiki – has featured a post on ‘Thermal mass’, from BRE, but it is not clear how might this be an issue for historic buildings.
image: DBW
Why not use this article as a prompt to explore issues and opportunities around thermal mass in existing buildings across the UK, and/or those local to you?
Maybe even look at adding further conservation-related links to the article, or even offering your own expert insight to the issue through an article in Conservation Wiki.
BRE writes via DBW:
The thermo-dynamics of thermal mass is a complex subject. The usefulness of materials for storing heat is based on the relationship between their thermal properties and the thermal cycle that they are required to moderate. Thermal mass requires high specific heat capacity, high density and a thermal conductivity that means heat flows into and out of the material are aligned with the thermal cycle of the occupied space. Materials such as concrete and masonry tend to have a useful thermal mass, whereas timber is too slow an absorber of heat, and steel has a too high a thermal conductivity….
However, thermal mass must be exposed to function efficiently. This means that it is commonly associated with exposed concrete floors, and walls, rather than conventional spaces which might include wall linings, suspended ceilings and raised floors. This requires that a high-quality finish is achieved and that services are carefully routed. The effectiveness of thermal mass can, however, be enhanced by paint, selected to optimise the absorption and release of thermal radiation….
See the IHBC’s Conservation Wiki
