When we think about insulation, there is a common misconception that it is only necessary in cold weather. It is thought that using insulation in hot weather will only trap the heat in your indoor spaces and make them even warmer. However, just like in the winter, you need a strong building envelope in the summer and using insulation can help you achieve that.
How insulation works
Heat moves from warmer areas to colder areas. This is what causes buildings to get colder in winter and hotter in summer. It happens through one or more of three heat transfer mechanisms: conduction, convection and radiation. A simple way of understanding the different types of heat transference is by thinking about a cup of coffee: radiation is the heat you feel coming off the side of the mug; convection is the air flow created from the hot air rising from the coffee; conduction is the heat you feel on the mug itself. Thermal insulation controls the transfer of heat through these mechanisms in order to prevent heat loss or heat gain.
To learn more about Insulation, you can register for our CPD course Insulation 101 here:
Keeping your building cool
During summer, heat moves from outdoors to the interior of a building. To maintain comfort, heat lost in winter must be replaced by your heating system and heat gained in summer must be removed by your air conditioner.
Using the air conditioning systems to regulate the temperature in your building during summer months is both expensive and bad for the environment due to the increased energy consumption. Air conditioning, fans and evaporative cooling systems are what is known as active cooling. An active cooling system means that energy is used to cool something, and it’s the opposite to passive cooling that uses no energy.
What is passive cooling?
It seems straightforward that when given the choice between a (active) cooling system that uses energy and a (passive) cooling system that uses no energy, the decision would be easy to make. But what is passive cooling?
Passive cooling in buildings is usually considered during the project development phase. It includes the use of insulation, window design, building orientation, natural ventilation, lighter coloured roofs and limiting thermal mass of the building to prevent storing daytime heat gains, amongst other things.
The choice of the listed techniques will depend on the Australian climate zone your building project is located in. All climate zones in Australia can benefit from applying passive cooling in their building design and with climate change, this is going to become an even more important consideration in the future. By relying on passive cooling techniques, you can minimise your reliance on active cooling and make your building cheaper to maintain, more environmentally friendly and more comfortable.
The importance of the building envelope
In order to be able to reap the benefits of passive cooling, an efficient building envelope is essential. Heat enters and escapes a building through windows, doors, walls, roof and floors, which all together form the building envelope. As much as 30% of heating and cooling loss in a building occurs through its doors and windows.
Heat gain and heat loss lead to decreased thermal comfort in a space, and insulation is the most efficient way to improve that. Insulation helps you prevent heat movement through all the elements of your building envelope, and if you opt in for a continuous insulation layer you can even prevent heat loss and gain through thermal bridges.
While insulation might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about a comfortable building in the summer, it might arguably be the most important. To learn how to properly insulate your building envelope and limit your reliance on active cooling, get in touch with our Technical Services team on 1300 247 235, technical@kingspaninsulation.com.au.
