Measuring the Rate of Heat Loss Across Selected Building Materials

The rate of heat loss is analyzed for three materials: glass, brick and wood. To do this, the initial and final temperatures are set to 75℉ and 100℉, respectively, and the dimensions of each material are chosen to be 5ft by 5ft with a thickness of 2 inches. The objective of this paper is to see which material is best for insulating heat, thus enhancing the thermal performance of a building. Results from this study suggest that glass and brick have a higher rate of heat loss (high thermal conductance values and low thermal resistance values) compared to wood and are therefore poor insulators whereas wood, with a lower rate of heat loss (low thermal conductance value and a high thermal resistance value) serves as a better insulator.