The Effects of Roof and Wall Insulation on the Energy Costs of Low Income Housing in Mexico
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Advanced Materials Research Center (CIMAV-Chihuahua), Miguel de Cervantes 120, Complejo Industrial Chihuahua, Chihuahua 31109, México
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Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), Av. Insurgentes Sur 1582, Ciudad de México 03940, México
3
Advanced Materials Research Center (CIMAV-Durango), Victoria 147 Norte, Zona Centro, Durango 34000, México
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editors: Lin Lu, Jinqing Peng and Fu Xiao
Sustainability 2016, 8(7), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/su8070590
Received: 6 April 2016
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Revised: 9 June 2016
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Accepted: 13 June 2016
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Published: 25 June 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Applications and Energy Saving in Buildings)
Environmental conditions, such as air temperature and solar radiation, have a complex relationship with the energy requirements for heating and cooling of residential buildings. In this work, a comparative analysis of the insulation methods most commonly applied to low income single-family houses in Mexico is presented, in order to find the most energy-efficient combinations of methods for the various climates in this country. A common kind of building, small houses built with hollow cinder block walls and concrete slab roofs, was analyzed considering three insulation scenarios: walls only, roof only and both. We used dynamic simulation to evaluate energy consumption under the climate conditions found in several Mexican cities. From the energy consumption data and the cost of electricity in Mexico, we calculated net annual energy costs, including both annual energy savings and the annualized cost of the initial investment in better insulation. Results of this analysis show that insulating both roof and walls is most effective in cities with cold winters; insulating just the roof is best for temperate climates; and insulating walls (combined with high-albedo roofs) is most effective for cities with year-long warm weather.
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Keywords:
thermal insulation; wall; roof; residential building; energy cost; PACS; J0101
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MDPI and ACS Style
Lucero-Álvarez, J.; Rodríguez-Muñoz, N.A.; Martín-Domínguez, I.R. The Effects of Roof and Wall Insulation on the Energy Costs of Low Income Housing in Mexico. Sustainability 2016, 8, 590. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8070590
AMA Style
Lucero-Álvarez J, Rodríguez-Muñoz NA, Martín-Domínguez IR. The Effects of Roof and Wall Insulation on the Energy Costs of Low Income Housing in Mexico. Sustainability. 2016; 8(7):590. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8070590
Chicago/Turabian StyleLucero-Álvarez, Jorge, Norma A. Rodríguez-Muñoz, and Ignacio R. Martín-Domínguez. 2016. "The Effects of Roof and Wall Insulation on the Energy Costs of Low Income Housing in Mexico" Sustainability 8, no. 7: 590. https://doi.org/10.3390/su8070590
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