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Reducing thermal bridges in EnergyPlus model

asked 2023-03-16 16:06:56 -0500

Any idea on how to reduce thermal bridges for a single-family residential building in EnergyPlus?

Suppose a layer of insulation (R-10 or 4 inches) is added to the exterior layer of an envelope to make the envelope thermal bridge free or reduce the thermal bridge. Do you think it is going to work?

Please note that the envelope is built based on IECC 2018, so it has a layer of insulation in the first place. Then to reduce thermal bridges to follow PHIUS standards, I'm adding an extra insulation layer to the exterior layer.

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answered 2023-03-16 20:57:30 -0500

rick
146 ●2 ●5 https://xstarresearch.com

Hi Homeiramir -- Your idea should work as expected by adding another layer to the construction for the surface.

Note that EnergyPlus doesn't take thermal bridges into account by default. You'll have to model the thermal bridge by a reduction in R value for a layer in the construction. See this previous post, or this one. Denis Bourgeois published a measure that is useful for precalculating and derating constructions for major thermal bridges.

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Asked: 2023-03-16 16:06:56 -0500

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Last updated: Mar 16 '23

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Reducing thermal bridges in EnergyPlus model edit