Effects of low emissive wall coatings on thermal comfort and energy consumption
Gerd Hugo
About 60% of the heat transfer from the inner rooms of a building to the outside is due to radiation. The surfaces of standard building materials are normally highly absorptive for heat radiation which means if there is a temperature difference energy will be absorbed and led via heat conductance to the outside. New wall paints have been developed which have besides their visual properties a higher reflectance in the thermal infrared region so they will reflect part of the heat energy back into the room. The influence on thermal comfort and energy savings due to wall paints with low emissive properties is discussed.