Quantifying Thermal Performance
When innovators develop new materials 
or thermal designs, quantifying the increased performance under actual conditions can be a challenge. Through simulation we can provide a net benefit in energy management to buildings, aircraft or vehicles.
With aircraft and vehicles we often conduct trade studies to determine payoff when introducing lightweight or high-performance materials. For architectural designs, we can deliver models for specific locations and actual climate/localized weather and solar loads. Some technologies may benefit buildings or homeowners nationwide and require an efficient computation benefits state-by-state. We can quantify the return on investment for these materials or designs under realistic environments and operating conditions.
Sample Case Study:
In the example project below, we quantified the energy savings per 100sq. ft. of wall space using Superior Polymer's EcoStud® Z-fur product (http://superiorpolymer.com/ecostud.html) combined with sprayfoam insulation on concrete block walls. The EcoStud® products are polymer replacement for wood or steel studs that reduce conductive losses by virtue of their low cross sectional area and low conductivity. The inventor needed a clear way to demonstrate the energy savings during winter months, and a means of visualizing that benefit as a sales tool.
ThermoAnalytics created a thermal model starting with standard concrete blocks and employing commonly-used steel studs and foam board insulation for commercial building construction. This served as the current baseline model against which Superior Polymer's EcoStud® would be compared. Because the EcoStud® was targeted for a wide swath of the northern US, analysis for both winter and summer conditions were applied. This represented the benefits to locations in most of the northern states that experience freezing conditions in winter and very warm conditions in summer. The interior ambient air was held at 68ºF in all cases.
A second model was run using the plastic EcoStud® Z-Fur with foam board insulation. The identical boundary conditions were used. The EcoStud® Z-Fur resulted in substantial energy savings and led to an ROI between 5 months and 3 years, depending on the building energy source.
Furthermore, the interior wall temperature distribution was more uniform with EcoStud® Z-Fur, resulting in far less discoloration over time that occurs from nonuniform dust adhesion to the interior gypsum wallboard. Superior Polymer used this comparative imagery in marketing and promotional materials to convey the ROI value and overall benefit of EcoStud® technology.
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Using our proprietary solar simulation technology, the solar energy incident on a building's walls and through its windows can be accurately computed. Our model adjusts global position, date, time of day, and weather conditions over time.
The purpose of many climate control systems is human thermal comfort. The ThermoAnalytics Thermal Comfort Virtual Dummy will allow your team to test the efficacy of passive thermal designs and energy-saving devices, without sacrificing human comfort.
We model thermal performance using first principles physics and actual or predicted weather data. Because our software supports a complete model of a natural environment, all relevant thermal loads are considered, from solar loading to wind effects and radiant losses to the cold sky.
Quantifying Thermal Performance
When innovators develop new materials or thermal designs, quantifying the increased performance under actual conditions can be a challenge. Through simulation we can provide a net benefit in energy management to buildings, aircraft or vehicles.
