Economic, ecological and building physical optimization of a wooden building envelope for subtropical regionas

Paper in proceeding, 2012

With regard to the resource depletion and the global climate change, the construction industry is important for the realization of a sustainable society. In this study, a wooden envelope system for subtropical regions was investigated in order to find the optimal wood fiber insulation thickness. The analyses were done by weighting the initial investment and the running cost form the ecological and economic viewpoint. The building physically minimum insulation thickness was also calculated by hygrothermal models. It was shown that the ecological optimum is more costly than the economical optimum. I was also shown that the building physical minimum is dependent on the local climatic conditions. By conducting the analyses in terms of the ecology, economy and the building physics, it was able to identify the regions that the envelope system works more sustainably.