Graduation Year
2014
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Major Professor
Manjriker Gunaratne, Ph.D.
Committee Member
James R. Mihelcic, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Delcie Durham, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Qiong Zhang, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Abla Zayed, Ph.D.
Committee Member
John Jermier, Ph.D.
Keywords
built environment, energy efficiency, sustainability
Abstract
he Department of Energy names executing and integrating high-performance sustainable design and green building best practices a Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan goal under the Executive Order 13514 (U.S DOE, 2009). As sustainability becomes a primary
goal for engineers, a decision making framework is needed to guide their choice of materials and processes; and then to carry out the evaluation of their chosen design. Sustainable design process, and the products developed through its application, work concurrently with functionality and sustainability evaluation methodologies to cultivate a continuous loop of design, implementation, assessment and improvement. In this context, an alternative insulation prototype exploring the use of evacuated packets of pyrogenic silica substituting for conventional insulation for refrigeration applications was developed and assessed. Assessment criteria included experimental comparison of heat transfer characteristics and the energy efficiency of the new insulation as well as its life cycle as it related to environmental sustainability. Results indicate that by utilizing alternative insulation design, heat flux decreased by an average of 36%, and energy efficiency improved by 5.1% over a 24 hour period. The new insulation design also resulted in improved environmental sustainability, resulting in a savings of 0.257 metric tons of CO2e over 20 years for a single unit. Results provide an alternative insulation design for use in commercial insulation applications, and a framework by which to assess the efficiency and environmental performance of similar products.
Scholar Commons Citation
Manoosingh, Celine, "Improving Functionality and Sustainability of Commercial Insulation: Experimental Study, Heat Transfer Modeling, Environmental Assessment" (2014). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/5265
