Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental Data

This study investigates the long-term impact of insulation degradation on building heating energy consumption, with a focus on extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation. Year-by-year degradation in thermal transmittance was derived from long-term experimental data and applied to prototypical energy mode...

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Main Authors: Soo-Hwan Park, Seok-Ho Kim, Ju-Yeon Jeong, Hye-Jin Kim, Dong-Hyun Seo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3260
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author Soo-Hwan Park
Seok-Ho Kim
Ju-Yeon Jeong
Hye-Jin Kim
Dong-Hyun Seo
author_facet Soo-Hwan Park
Seok-Ho Kim
Ju-Yeon Jeong
Hye-Jin Kim
Dong-Hyun Seo
author_sort Soo-Hwan Park
collection DOAJ
description This study investigates the long-term impact of insulation degradation on building heating energy consumption, with a focus on extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation. Year-by-year degradation in thermal transmittance was derived from long-term experimental data and applied to prototypical energy models of multifamily apartment buildings and office buildings. Simulations were performed using both Actual Meteorological Year (AMY) and Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data for six cities representing Korea’s major climate zones. The results showed that insulation degradation led to a significant increase in heating energy consumption from 23.2% to 34.9% in AMY simulations and 23.5% to 36.2% in TMY simulations for multifamily apartment buildings over 15 years. The difference between the AMY and TMY estimates was within 4%, demonstrating the reliability of TMY for long-term performance assessments. Notably, the southern and Jeju zones exhibited higher sensitivity to degradation due to their relaxed insulation standards and lower initial thermal performance. Office buildings were less affected, with increases below 8%, attributed to smaller envelope areas and higher internal heat gains. These findings highlight the need for zone-specific insulation standards and differentiated energy-saving design strategies by building type to ensure long-term energy efficiency.
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series Energies
spelling doaj-art-97f63be7e22e43768491e1fdb78cb3ba2025-08-20T02:35:56ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732025-06-011813326010.3390/en18133260Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental DataSoo-Hwan Park0Seok-Ho Kim1Ju-Yeon Jeong2Hye-Jin Kim3Dong-Hyun Seo4Department of Architectural Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of KoreaBECUBE. Inc., Cheongju 28644, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Architectural Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Architectural Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Architectural Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of KoreaThis study investigates the long-term impact of insulation degradation on building heating energy consumption, with a focus on extruded polystyrene (XPS) insulation. Year-by-year degradation in thermal transmittance was derived from long-term experimental data and applied to prototypical energy models of multifamily apartment buildings and office buildings. Simulations were performed using both Actual Meteorological Year (AMY) and Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data for six cities representing Korea’s major climate zones. The results showed that insulation degradation led to a significant increase in heating energy consumption from 23.2% to 34.9% in AMY simulations and 23.5% to 36.2% in TMY simulations for multifamily apartment buildings over 15 years. The difference between the AMY and TMY estimates was within 4%, demonstrating the reliability of TMY for long-term performance assessments. Notably, the southern and Jeju zones exhibited higher sensitivity to degradation due to their relaxed insulation standards and lower initial thermal performance. Office buildings were less affected, with increases below 8%, attributed to smaller envelope areas and higher internal heat gains. These findings highlight the need for zone-specific insulation standards and differentiated energy-saving design strategies by building type to ensure long-term energy efficiency.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3260XPS (extruded polystyrene)thermal transmittancelong-term degradationenergy performanceprototypical energy modelTypical Meteorological Year
spellingShingle Soo-Hwan Park
Seok-Ho Kim
Ju-Yeon Jeong
Hye-Jin Kim
Dong-Hyun Seo
Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental Data
Energies
XPS (extruded polystyrene)
thermal transmittance
long-term degradation
energy performance
prototypical energy model
Typical Meteorological Year
title Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental Data
title_full Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental Data
title_fullStr Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental Data
title_full_unstemmed Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental Data
title_short Detailed Building Energy Impact Analysis of XPS Insulation Degradation Using Existing Long-Term Experimental Data
title_sort detailed building energy impact analysis of xps insulation degradation using existing long term experimental data
topic XPS (extruded polystyrene)
thermal transmittance
long-term degradation
energy performance
prototypical energy model
Typical Meteorological Year
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/13/3260
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AT juyeonjeong detailedbuildingenergyimpactanalysisofxpsinsulationdegradationusingexistinglongtermexperimentaldata
AT hyejinkim detailedbuildingenergyimpactanalysisofxpsinsulationdegradationusingexistinglongtermexperimentaldata
AT donghyunseo detailedbuildingenergyimpactanalysisofxpsinsulationdegradationusingexistinglongtermexperimentaldata