Heat flow characteristics through low-slope metal deck roofs / Rosazman Ismail

Building material generally refers to those building components that enclose conditioned spaces and through which thermal energy is transferred to or from the outdoor environment. In buildings, energy efficiency means using less energy for heating, cooling, and lighting. It also means buying energy-saving appliances and equipment for use in a building. Building envelope is the main and most important factor for energy efficiency in buildings, which is everything that separates the interior of the building from the outdoor environment like the doors, windows, walls, foundation, roof, and insulation. All the components of the building envelope need to work together to keep a building warm in the cool weather, cool in the hot weather and comfortable. Roofing material is known as an important part of residential, nonresidential and industrial buildings. Improvements can be made on the heat transfer characteristics through roofing materials if experiments are conducted on its thermal characteristics. In this project, the research was done on heat flow characteristics through roofing materials of low slope roofs, commonly found in many nonresidential buildings in Klang Valley, Selangor. The thermal characteristics, particularly the heat flow and the characteristics of the roofing structure are investigated to determine its appropriateness as a roofing material. Heat flux through the roofing materials are measured using huksefluks sensors. At the same time, temperature measurements were recorded simultaneously on the interior and exterior of the roofing materials by using thermocouples. The temperature differences were used in estimating the thermal resistance of the roofs. Generally, the study found that the insulation does give a significant impact on the temperature where the insulations reduce the inside temperature of the buildings. This is a good indication that the building materials for roofing are good insulators.