| Popis: |
The economic optimum insulation thicknesses (OIT) for heated buildings in five different climate regions in Turkiye were determined, and the energy, cost, and life cycle-based environmental performances were analyzed. Calculations were performed using three different fuels (natural gas, fuel oil, and coal) and four different insulation materials: expanded polystyrene (EPS), rock wool (RW), glass wool (GW), and extruded polystyrene (XPS). This study utilized a thermoeconomic approach to evaluate energy and economic performance and a life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to assess environmental impacts, ensuring a comprehensive analysis of insulation strategies. The impacts of climate change factors were expressed as kg CO2 equivalent (kgCO2eq) using 100-years global warming potential (GWP). The annual energy savings varying from 18.41 to 258.15 kWh/(year.m2) for the warmer and the colder climate zones, respectively. The maximum avoided environmental impact (AEI) due to energy saved from thermal insulation was 144.11 kgCO2eq/(year.m2) for coal and RW in coldest climate zone, while the minimum AEI was 5.31 kgCO2eq/(year.m2) for natural gas and XPS in warmest climate zone. Among insulation materials, EPS offers the shortest environmental payback period, whereas RW requires the longest, highlighting material-specific trade-offs. In all climate zones, environmental payback periods are much shorter than economic ones. |
