Influence of Thermo-Dynamic Properties and Thermal Inertia of the Building Envelope on Building Cooling Load

Buildings are responsible for about 30 % of the total energy consumption of Latvia. Specific heat consumption is 200-225 kWh/m² per annum, for its part the average consumption of one household is about 1000-1200 kWh per annum. Due to increasing needs for comfort, an increase in the total area of buildings covered by glass, as well as intensified interest in establishing a good microclimate in buildings, there is also increasingly more attention paid on to the cooling load of buildings and the related heat transfer and exchange processes. Thermal inertia and the thermal mass of building envelope are main factors, which substantially influence the amplitude of changes in temperature and the period during which the internal temperature is dependant on the external temperature.