Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341

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Energy and Buildings

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild

Impact factors analysis on the thermal performance of hollow

block wall
Yuan Zhang a,b , Kai Du a,b,∗ , Jiapeng He c , Liu Yang a,b , Yanjun Li a,b , Shuhong Li a,b
a
School of Energy and Environment, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
b
Key Laboratory of Energy Thermal Conversion and Control of Ministry of Education, Southeast University, Nanjing, China
c
College of Urban Construction and Safety Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology, Nanjing, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, the influence on the thermal performance of hollow block wall produced by boundary
Received 9 December 2013 condition, the thermo-physical properties of block materials, and the configuration of hollow block was
Received in revised form 7 February 2014 analyzed, the regulations were obtained, and the optimization measures were proposed. For the analysis,
Accepted 11 February 2014
the experiment and calculation were combined, and the thermal resistance, decrement factor, and time
lag were considered as the evaluation indexes. The experimental method is herein called temperature-
Keywords:
change hot chamber method (TCHCM). The two-dimensional energy equation was discretized by finite
Hollow block
difference method (FDM) with Gause–Seidel scheme, the point iteration method (PIM) was used, and the
Building envelope
Two-dimensional heat transfer
calculation program was developed in MATLAB environment. It was concluded that the thermal per-
Thermal resistance formance of wall is perfect with the thermal conductivity of block material lower than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 .
Decrement factor Furthermore, when the thermal conductivity and the thermal capacity of block material are higher than
Time lag 1.0 W m−1 K−1 and 1.0 MJ m−3 K−1 , respectively, it is more effective to increase the thermal capacity than
to decrease the thermal conductivity for the thermal performance improvement of wall. In addition, the
main factors influencing thermal performance are ranked with the functions in descending order as:
decreasing the thermal conductivity of block material, increasing the thermal capacity of block material,
decreasing the equivalent thermal conductivity of the material inside holes, increasing block thickness
(accompanying the increase of hole spacing), and increasing hole rows (maintaining small hole thickness).

© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction Hollow block is non-homogeneous component. Therefore, the

Building envelope can accumulate heat and consequently
reduce the operating cost of building devices. The thermal perfor-
mance improvement of building envelope, importantly influencing
the building energy efficiency, becomes one of the key points
of building energy-saving work. Energy-saving hollow block can
reduce structural weight and improve the thermal insulation prop-
erties of wall due to the high thermal resistance of the relatively
stagnant air inside block; consequently, the cooling load and energy
consumption are reduced. Therefore, using the wall outfitted with
energy-saving hollow block becomes one of the general methods
to improve the thermal performance of building envelope.
∗ Corresponding author at: Southeast University, School of Energy and Environ-
ment, 2 # SiPaiLou, Nanjing 210096, China. Tel.: +86 25 83793214;
fax: +86 25 83793214.
E-mail addresses: yuanzhangnj@gmail.com, du-kai@seu.edu.cn (K. Du).
heat transfer within hollow block can not be simplified as one-
dimensional process; otherwise, large error will probably happen
[1]. Most researchers calculate and analyze the hollow block wall
using two-dimensional or three-dimensional mathematical mod-
els. Lorente analyzed the thermal resistance of the hollow bricks
of different structures using two-dimensional model. He con-
cluded that the thermal resistance of wall reduced greatly when
the hole rows were decreased and meanwhile the hole thickness
was increased; increasing the height of brick is more effective
for the improvement of thermal resistance than increasing the
thickness [2]. Antoniadis, using Comsol Multiphysics software [3]
and two-dimensional model with finite element method (FEM),
analyzed the influence on the equivalent thermal conductivity of
hollow brick produced by the factors such as the material type,
structure of brick, hole rate, and the optimization measures were
proposed [4]. Morales performed the optimization analysis on the
equivalent thermal conductivity of the hollow clay bricks with dif-
ferent hole patterns using FEM. It was concluded that the holes
being arranged in a quincunx, increasing the hole rows, avoiding

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.02.037
0378-7788/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341 331

Nomenclature

 density of PCM (kg m−3 )

 thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1 )
 time (s)
y direction of width (mm)
Tinit initial temperature (◦ C)
ha the convective heat transfer coefficient when x = 1
(W m−2 K−1 )
hb the convective heat transfer coefficient when x = Nx
(W m−2 K−1 )
f () heat flow function as a function of  (W m−2 ) Fig. 1. Hollow block and experimental wall.
Tx,y,+1 the temperature of the point (x, y) at the time of
 + 1 (◦ C) surface radiation emissivity imply a better thermal behavior [9,10].
 maximum absolute error (◦ C) Currently, most studies have been conducted aiming at reducing
i sequence number of data the equivalent thermal conductivity of hollow blocks [11–17]. In
Nsta,i ith standard datum fact, the actual condition for the use of hollow block is dynami-
2 equivalent thermal conductivity of the material cally varied. Wall’s thermal resistance can be increased by reducing
inside holes (W m−1 K−1 ) equivalent thermal conductivity; but this is often accompanied
c sensible heat of PCM (kJ kg−1 K−1 ) with the decrease of thermal capacity, which apparently weak-
T temperature (◦ C) ens the ability against the fluctuation of temperature and heat flux.
x direction of thickness (mm) Therefore, only aiming at reducing the equivalent thermal conduc-
T (x, y, ) the temperature of the point (x, y) at time point  tivity of wall is one sided. The indexes such as thermal resistance,
(◦ C) decrement factor, and time lag should be considered synthetically.
Nx the total number of the meshes on the x direction As a result, researchers started to do the evaluations adding the
Tfa the boundary air temperature when x = 1 (◦ C) indexes of decrement factor and time lag in recent years. Some of
Tfb the boundary air temperature when x = Nx (◦ C) them analyzed the impact factors of decrement factor and time lag
Tx,y, the temperature of the point (x, y) at the time of  using one-dimensional heat transfer models [18–27]. In addition,
(◦ C) Sala, using calibrated hot-box unit and FEM tested and calculated
 standard error (◦ C) the response factors of hollow block wall [1]. Arendt proposed an
n amount of data optimized hole pattern and studied the effect of hollow ratio on the
Ni ith datum thermal parameters of hollow brick using two-dimensional energy
1 thermal conductivity of block material (W m−1 K−1 ) equation. He presented the optimum hole rate under this hole pat-
tern was 45–65%. The indexes used in the evaluation were time
Subscripts lag, decrement factor, equivalent thermal diffusivity and equivalent
p the boundary meshes when x = 1 thermal conductivity [28]. Most researchers have only analyzed a
E the point right to the point p certain class of impact factors influencing the thermal performance
S the point under the point p of hollow block, synthetic analysis with multiple factors has rarely
N the point above the point p been reported by which more innovative regulations can probably
init initial be gained. Furthermore, with different varieties of hollow blocks,
p the boundary meshes when x = Nx the structural design generally depends on designer’s experience,
N the point above the point p which leads to unreasonable use of materials and hole patterns.
W the point left to the point p Hence, analyzing the impact factors on the thermal performance of
S the point under the point p hollow block wall systematically, and optimizing the hole pattern
sta standard of block effectively become a necessary and urgent step for improv-
ing wall’s energy-saving level, which can also provide principles for
the related designing standards.
thermal bridges, and the non-rectangular geometric holes con- In this paper, the influence on the thermal performance of
tained within rectangles with a minimum thickness of 10 mm can hollow block wall produced by boundary condition, the thermo-
provide greater thermal performance [5,6]. Li, combined TDMA physical properties of block materials, and the configuration of
(Tri-diagonal Matrix) method and Alternating Direction Implicit hollow block was analyzed, the regulations were obtained, and
(ADI) method, studied the heat transfer processes of various hol- the optimization measures were proposed. The used indexes are
low blocks of different structures. It was concluded that the heat thermal resistance, decrement factor, and time lag.
radiation inside the holes increases the equivalent thermal conduc-
tivity of block; furthermore, the amount and arrangement of holes 2. Mathematical model
played important roles on equivalent thermal conductivity; how-
ever, the variation of the indoor and outdoor air temperature ranges 2.1. Assumptions
had little effect on equivalent thermal conductivity [7,8]. del Coz
Diaz, taking the overall heat transfer coefficient as the index, using In order to simplify the heat transfer model, the following
response surface methodology (RSM) and finite element method assumptions are made: (1) all the materials are considered to
(FEM), analyzed different types of hollow bricks. It was concluded be thermally homogeneous and isotropic media; (2) the thermal
that when the width of the recesses is equal to 10 mm and 30 mm, properties of each material are unchangeable during heat transfer
respectively, the increase and the decrease of the width give place process; (3) the equivalent thermal conductivity is applied for the
to the decrease of the brick thermal conductivity; furthermore, an air layers inside the block [29]; (4) according to the physical model
increase in length of the recesses and a decrease of the recesses’ (Fig. 1 and Fig. 5), the net heat flow on the vertical direction is zero,
332 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341

therefore, it is simplified to two-dimensional heat transfer in the Table 1

Material’s physical properties of hollow block.
computational domain, and the total heat only flows on the direc-
tion of thickness (the boundaries of other directions are adiabatic, Material of Physical properties
where the second type thermal boundary condition is applied). hollow block
Density Thermal Thermal
(kg m−3 ) capacity conductivity
2.2. Governing equation (J kg−1 K−1 ) (W m−1 K−1 )

Lightweight 1600 600 0.62

The governing equation is [30]: aggregate
  concrete
∂T ∂2 T ∂2 T Air layer 1.2 1005 0.143
c = + (1)
∂ ∂x 2 ∂y2 (20 mm (Equivalent)
thickness)
where , c,  and T are the density, specific heat, thermal con- Air layer 1.2 1005 0.267
ductivity and temperature of materials, respectively,  is time, x (40 mm (Equivalent)
thickness)
and y are the directions of thickness and width in the wall.

2.3. Initial and boundary conditions

equation and boundary conditions were discretized by finite dif-
The initial temperature of the computational domain is shown
ference method (FDM) [31,32]. Central differences were applied
as follows:
 in space step while a fully implicit finite difference scheme and
T (x, y, ) = Tinit (2) forward differences were applied in time step. The Gause–Seidel
=0
scheme was employed in iteration. The convergence criterion is
where T (x, y, ) is the temperature of the point (x, y) at time shown as Eq. (6). The calculation program was built in MATLAB
point , Tinit is the initial temperature 32 ◦ C. environment.
When x = 1 (exterior boundary surface) and x = Nx (interior
 
max Tx,y, − Tx,y,+1  ≤ 10−10
boundary surface), it is calculated with the third type thermal
(6)
boundary condition:
∂T where Tx,y, and Tx,y,+1 are the temperatures of the point (x, y)
x = 1 : c dxdy
∂ at the time of  and  + 1, respectively.
  
 ∂T ∂T 
=  
 dy + ha (Tfa − TP )dy + ∂y 
∂x
P−E P−N 3. Experimental validation of mathematical model
 
∂T  
dx − dx (3) 3.1. Experimental methodology
∂y 
S−P
The size of the used lightweight aggregate concrete hollow
∂T block in the experiment is 390 mm × 190 mm × 190 mm. Because
x = Nx : c dxdy
∂ the moisture content of the lightweight concrete is very important
   
∂T  ∂T  to the thermal behaviors of hollow blocks, before the experiment,
= −  dy + hb (Tfb − TP  )dy +  the hollow blocks had been placed in the lab for at least 4 months;
∂x  ∂y 
W  −P  P  −N  and meanwhile the RH inside the lab was always 40 ± 5%. Accord-
 
∂T 
ing to Refs. [33,34], the moisture content of the concrete should
dx − dx (4) be low and stable, and the moisture content per unit mass should
∂y 
S  −P  be less than 0.25 kg/kg. Furthermore, the thermal properties of the
concrete were obtained by the repeating tests. Therefore, it was
where Nx is the total number of the meshes on the x direction;
considered that the thermal properties used here were accurate.
point p and p are the boundary meshes when x = 1 and x = Nx ;
The block and wall are shown in Fig. 1, and the material’s physical
E, N, S are the points right to, above and under the point p; W  ,
properties are in Table 1 [29].
N  , S  are the points left to, above and under the point p ; ha , Tfa ,
The used experimental method is called temperature-change hot
hb , Tfb are the convective heat transfer coefficients and boundary
chamber method (TCHCM). The experimental device is shown in
air temperatures when x = 1 and x = Nx , respectively. Each item of
Fig. 2. Both the left chamber and the right chamber can stabilize the
the two equations takes the positive value when heat flows into the
inside temperatures and vary them dynamically in the experiment.
point p (or p ) and negative value when heat flows out of the point
In order to maintain the adiabatic condition around the experimen-
p (or p ).
tal wall, the frames of the specimen bracket and the two chambers
The boundaries on width direction (y = 1 and y = Ny ) are adia-
were adiabatically treated. In the experiments, the temperatures on
batic (the second type thermal boundary condition). The equation
the two surfaces of wall were tested by the uniformly distributed
is
  thermo-couples and recorded by data logger. Six experiments
∂T  ∂T  under different boundary conditions (Table 2) were performed.
−  = −  = f () (5)
∂y ∂y
y=1 y=Ny

where f () is the heat flow function as a function of , f () = 0. 3.2. Evaluation indexes

2.4. Numerical method In order to analyze the calculation accuracy, the standard errors
and maximum absolute errors between the calculation curves and
The point iteration method (PIM) was used for the two- experimental curves were calculated using Eqs. (7) and (8). The
dimensional numerical calculation in this work. The governing standard error reflects the average extent of the calculation curve
 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341 333

Thermal Insulation Material Table 3

Thermo-physical properties of the block materials.
Aluminium Plate Left Chamber Right Chamber
Fan Materials in the Thermo-physical properties
block
Density Thermal Thermal
Cold Source Aluminium Plate (kg m−3 ) capacity conductivity
(J kg−1 K−1 ) (W m−1 K−1 )
Heat Source Block material 2300 920 1.51
Heat Source Air layer 1.2 1005 0.214 (Equivalent)
(30 mm [27]
thickness)

Fan

4. Impact factors analysis on the thermal performance of

wall
Specimen Bracket
Experimental Wall
4.1. Influence of boundary condition
Fig. 2. Experimental device.

Under the influence of the initial conditions, there is large dif-

ference between the calculation results and the experimental data
deviating from the experimental curve. The maximum absolute during the first 400 min (Fig. 3). However, this impact was elimi-
error reports the maximum deviation between the two curves. nated after the first 400 min, and the two curves gradually closed to
 each other and stably progressed. The Exp1 curve was completely
n
 stable after 600 min (Fig. 3a). In Fig. 3b (Exp2), affected by the tem-
 (Ni − Nsta,i )2 perature fluctuation of the air on the left side (amplitude 11.8 ◦ C),

i=1 the temperature on the left surface of wall fluctuated with a slightly
= (7)
n smaller amplitude. The temperature of the right side air is main-
     
tained to constant; but, influenced by the fluctuation of the left side
  = max N1 − Nsta,1  , N2 − Nsta,2  · · · Nn − Nsta,n  (8) air, the temperature on the right surface also fluctuated (amplitude
1.3 ◦ C). Influenced by the constant temperature of the right side air,
where  and   are standard error and maximum absolute error, the decrement factor of wall was large (9.44); however, the timely
respectively, n is the amount of data, i is the sequence number of temperature difference between the right surface and the right side
data, Ni is the ith datum and Nsta,i is the ith standard datum. air was relatively large, which enhanced the heat transfer effect;
therefore, the time lag was small (4.4 h). Although the left side
condition of the Exp3 (Fig. 3c) was the same as the Exp2, the tem-
3.3. Calculation and experimental results
perature of the right side air fluctuated with the right surface due
to the uncontrolled temperature in the right chamber. Therefore,
The left and right surfaces of wall are non-isothermal due to
the temperature amplitude on the right surface (2.9 ◦ C), comparing
the non-homogenous component (hollow block). But the temper-
with the Exp2, became larger, and the decrement factor was smaller
ature difference on the two surfaces was small enough (Fig. 5c).
(4.02). Meanwhile, the timely temperature difference between the
Therefore, the average temperatures on the surfaces of wall (exper-
right surface and the right side air was relatively small, which weak-
imental data were the average temperatures of each test point,
ened the heat transfer effect and made the time lag be larger (6 h).
calculation results were the average temperatures of each mesh
Exp3–Exp6 (Figs. 3–6) were all the cases under the conditions of
point) were obtained. The experimental and calculation results are
periodically varied temperature on the left side and uncontrolled
shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen that the calculation results (Cal) under
temperature on the right side. It can be seen that the temperature
different boundary conditions have the same trend and reasonable
amplitude on the right surface increased with the amplitude of the
agreement with the experimental data (Exp). In Fig. 4, the error
left side air. However, although the absolute reduced temperature
tendencies of the calculated values on the left and right surfaces
against the fluctuations increased, both the decrement factor (4.02,
are the same, and they both increase with the widths of the tem-
4.10, 4.07, and 3.85, respectively) and time lag (6 h, 5.42 h, 5.58 h,
perature ranges. Furthermore, the increasing speed of the errors on
and 5.17 h, respectively) slightly decreased.
the right surface is slightly higher than that on the left surface. The
maximum standard error is 3.7%, lower than 5%, which can satisfy
the accuracy demand.
4.2. Physical model and boundary condition

Table 2 The physical model shown in Fig. 5a is used in the following

Boundary conditions in each experiment. analysis. Fig. 5b is the typical temperature distribution in block. Due
Number of Boundary temperatures to the unequal thermal conductivities between the block material
experiments and the air layers, the isotherm in the block is unevenly distributed.
Left-side air Right-side air
temperatures (◦ C) temperatures (◦ C) With relatively small equivalent thermal conductivity, the temper-
ature gradient at the positions of air layers is large; while it is evenly
Exp1 Stabilized, 48.7 Stabilized, 9.3
Exp2 15.6–38.9 Stabilized, 32.3
distributed at the position of block material. The thermo-physical
Exp3 23.4–28.1 properties of the block materials are in Table 3. The typical sol–air
Exp4 Varied −3.1–62.9 Uncontrolled 21.6–35.0 temperature of the hot summer zone [29] is used as the outdoor air
Exp5 −0.4–68.3 24.3–38.4 temperature (Fig. 6). The indoor air temperature is set as constant
Exp6 −3.3–79.1 21.5–39.7
26 ◦ C.
334 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341

Fig. 3. Experimental and calculation results.

Fig. 4. Standard errors and maximum absolute errors of calculation results.

Table 4
Variation of the thermo-physical properties of block materials.

Thermal conductivity of block material 1 (W m−1 K−1 ) 0.03 0.05 0.08 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.8 1 3

Thermal capacity of block material c (MJ m−3 K−1 ) 0.03 0.05 0.1 0.3 0.5 1 3 5 10
Equivalent thermal conductivity of the material inside holes 2 (W m−1 K−1 ) 0.01 0.03 0.05 0.08 0.1 0.3
 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341
Fig. 5. Vertical view of hollow block.
4.3. Influence of the thermo-physical properties of block materials
The thermo-physical properties of block materials are varied as
shown in Table 4.
4.3.1. Influence of the thermal conductivity of block material
Fig. 7a–d is the influence on the thermal performance of
wall produced by the variation of the thermal conductivity of
block material 1 (W m−1 K−1 ). In the calculation, 1 is var-
ied as Table 4, and other thermo-physical properties are gained
from Table 3 and maintained to constant. It can be seen from
the Fig. 7 that the thermal resistance of wall reduces with
the rise of 1 , but the reducing speed slows down. When 1
increases from 0.03 W m−1 K−1 to 1.0 W m−1 K−1 , the decreasing
speed of the thermal resistance and the increasing speed of
the total heat flux are both very large (the thermal resistance
decreases from 4.23 m2 K W−1 to 0.37 m2 K W−1 , and the total heat
flux increases from 174.46 kJ m−2 day−1 to 1417.51 kJ m−2 day−1 );
however, when 1 is higher than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 , the effect
is no longer apparent (the thermal resistance decreases from
0.37 m2 K W−1 to 0.19 m2 K W−1 , and the total heat flux increases
from 1417.51 kJ m−2 day−1 to 2159.80 kJ m−2 day−1 ). Fig. 7b and c
are the hourly-changed values of the temperature and heat flux on
the interior surface of wall varying with 1 . It can be seen that the
trends are the same, and the amplitude increases with the rise of
50
45
Temperature ( C)
o
40
35
30
25
0 20 40 60
Time (h)
Fig. 6. Sol–air temperature in the summer of the hot summer zone.
335
1 . The decrement factor and time lag both reduce rapidly with the
increase of 1 from 0.03 W m−1 K−1 to 1.0 W m−1 K−1 (the decre-
ment factor reduces from 1229.12 to 8.94, and the time lag reduces
from 19.2 h to 6.3 h); however, the decrease speed gradually slows
down when 1 is higher than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 (the decrement factor
reduces from 8.94 to 4.82, and the time lag reduces from 6.3 h to
4.6 h, seen from Fig. 7d).
To analyze more objectively, similar analyses have been per-
formed by changing other thermo-physical properties. When the
thermal capacity c changes to 0.2116 MJ m−3 K−1 and when the
equivalent thermal conductivity of the material inside holes 2
changes to 0.03 W m−1 K−1 , for observing the universality of the
gained regulations, the influence on the thermal performance of
wall produced by the variation of the thermal conductivity of block
material 1 has been analyzed. It is calculated that the thermal per-
formance values are different by the changes of c and 2 , but the
impact trend of the 1 is the same.
It can be concluded from the analyses above that the strong
reduction effect against the fluctuation of the external disturbance
when 1 is lower than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 produces a relatively sta-
ble indoor thermal condition; meanwhile, the delay effect is also
strong. It means that the peak temperature of daytime will get into
room at night, when the environmental temperature is reducing,
which helps to improve the comfortable degree. Furthermore, it can
relieve the electric network load and save the air-conditioning cost.
Therefore, it is suggested to make the thermal conductivity of block
material lower than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 for good thermal performance
of wall.
4.3.2. Influence of the thermal capacity of block material
The influence of the thermal capacity of block material c
(MJ m−3 K−1 ) on the thermal performance of wall is shown in
Fig. 8a–d. c is varied as Table 4, and other thermo-physical param-
eters are gained from Table 3 and maintained to constant. Because
large thermal capacity makes the temperature inside wall reach the
stable state slowly, 20 temperature periods have been calculated
and the last 4 periods of the stably varied temperatures have been
drawn in Fig. 8. Fig. 8a demonstrates that the increase of c can not
significantly reduce the total value of the heat flux getting into room
during a day. Fig. 8b and c are the hourly-changed values of the tem-
perature and heat flux on the interior surface of wall varying with
c. The amplitudes of the hourly-changed temperature and heat
flux on the interior surface both fall, and the decrement factor and
time lag both increase with the rise of the thermal capacity. It can
be seen from Fig. 8d that, when c increases from 0.03 MJ m−3 K−1
to 1.0 MJ m−3 K−1 , the decrement factor rises slowly from 3.99 to
4.82; but after that the increase is accelerated to increase from
4.82 to 56.30. The variation of the time lag is approximately linear.
Therefore, increasing the thermal capacity of material is an effec-
tive approach to improve the decrement factor and time lag when
the thermal conductivity of material is constant.
Fig. 8e is the partial comparison of the decrement factor and
time lag under the influence of the thermal conductivity and ther-
mal capacity of block material (the data are shown in Table 5). In
the figure, both the thermal conductivity and thermal capacity of
block material share the same x-coordinate with the same values
and different units. It can be clearly seen that, it is greatly effi-
cient to increase the decrement factor and time lag by reducing
the thermal conductivity when it is smaller than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 ;
when it reduces from 1.0 W m−1 K−1 to 0.3 W m−1 K−1 , the decre-
ment factor and time lag improve from 8.94 to 22.74 and 6.3 h to
8.7 h, respectively (the two parameters have increased for 13.80
and 2.4 h); however, when the thermal capacity increases from
80
0.3 MJ m−3 K−1 to 1.0 MJ m−3 K−1 , the decrement factor and time lag
only improve from 4.06 to 4.82 and 1.6 h to 3.2 h, respectively (the
two parameters have increased for 0.76 and 1.6 h). Nevertheless,
336 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341

Fig. 7. Influence of the thermal conductivity of block material.

when the thermal conductivity is larger than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 , its Similarly, when 1 changes to 0.1 W m−1 K−1 and when 2
variation from 5.0 W m−1 K−1 to 1.0 W m−1 K−1 makes the decre- changes to 0.03 W m−1 K−1 , the influence on the thermal perfor-
ment factor and time lag increase from 3.77 to 8.94 and from 4.1 h to mance of wall produced by the variation of c has been analyzed. It
6.3 h, respectively (the two parameters have increased for 5.17 and demonstrates that the impact trend of the variation of c is similar
2.2 h); while the rise of the thermal capacity from 1.0 MJ m−3 K−1 to as before.
5.0 MJ m−3 K−1 makes the decrement factor and time lag increase
from 4.82 h to 16.94 h and from 3.2 h to 9.9 h, respectively (the two 4.3.3. Influence of the equivalent thermal conductivity of the
parameters have increased for 12.12 h and 6.7 h). It demonstrates material inside holes
that it is more effective to increase the thermal capacity than to The influence of the equivalent thermal conductivity of the
decrease the thermal conductivity for the increase of the decre- material inside holes 2 (W m−1 K−1 , the material can be air or other
ment factor and time lag, when the thermal conductivity and the materials, and its equivalent thermal conductivity can be calculated
thermal capacity of block material are higher than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 by the thermal resistance and thickness of the material inside holes
and 1.0 MJ m−3 K−1 , respectively. [29]) on the thermal performance of wall is shown in Fig. 9a–d.
2 is varied as Table 4, and other thermo-physical parameters are
gained from Table 3 and maintained to constant. The figure shows
that the impact trend of 2 is the same as that of 1 , but the vari-
Table 5 ation amplitude of thermal resistance reduces for about one order
Comparison of decrement factor and time lag. of magnitude.
Thermal Decrement Time lag Decrement Time lag Similarly, when 1 changes to 0.1 W m−1 K−1 and when c
conductivity or factor (thermal factor (thermal changes to 0.2116 MJ m−3 K−1 , the influence on the thermal per-
thermal (thermal conductivity) (thermal capacity) formance of wall produced by 2 has been analyzed. It is calculated
capacity of conductivity) (h) capacity) (h)
that, when 1 changes to 0.1 W m−1 K−1 , the influence on the ther-
block material
(W m−1 K−1 or mal performance becomes more significant than the one when 1
MJ m−3 K−1 ) is 1.51 W m−1 K−1 . The reason is that the high thermal conductivity
0.3 22.74 8.7 4.06 1.6
of block material (1.51 W m−1 K−1 ) becomes the “weak point” for
0.5 14.45 7.6 4.23 1.9 the wall’s thermal performance. Therefore, large amount of heat
1 8.94 6.3 4.82 3.2 flows through the block material. At this time, the increase of 2
3 4.82 4.6 9.36 7.2 can affect the thermal performance of wall to some extent, but
5 3.77 4.1 16.94 9.9
the presence of the “cask effect” makes the “weak point” be not
 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341 337

Fig. 8. Influence of the thermal capacity of block material.

eliminated, which makes the function of 2 be restrained. How-
ever, when 1 changes to 0.1 W m−1 K−1 , the impact of 2 becomes
more significant due to the absence of obvious “weak point”. For
all this, the impact trend of 2 is not changed. The variation of c
has little impact on the influence of 2 . However, as a result of the
small value of c (0.2116 MJ m−3 K−1 ), the values and the variation
ranges of the decrement factor and time lag are all small.
4.4. Influence of the configuration of hollow block
For the convenience, the analyzed hollow block shape is based
on the one shown in Fig. 5a and changes following different factors.
The boundary condition is the same as Section 4.2. The basic
thermo-physical parameters of block materials are in Table 3.
4.4.1. Influence of the hole number, hole width, and rib width of
each row
Fig. 10 is the influence on the thermal performance of wall with
varying the hole number, hole width, and rib width of each row (the
variations is shown in Table 6). Meanwhile, the block thickness of
0.19 m, 3 hole rows, hole thickness of 0.03 m, unstaggered arrange-
ment between every two hole rows, and the same hollow ratio of
each configuration have been maintained, and each arrangement
is numbered (Table 6).
338 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341

Fig. 9. Influence of the equivalent thermal conductivity of the material inside holes.

Fig. 10. Influence of the hole number, hole thickness, and rib width of each row.

Table 6
Variation of the hole number, hole width, and rib width of each row.

Hole width when the Hole number of each row

rib width varies 2 3 4 5

Hole width when the rib width is 0.04 m (m) 0.135 (No.1) 0.075 (No.2) 0.050 (No.3) 0.030 (No.4)
Hole width when the rib width is 0.03 m (m) 0.150 (No.5) 0.090 (No.6) 0.060 (No.7) 0.040 (No.8)
Hole width when the rib width is 0.02 m (m) 0.165 (No.9) 0.105 (No.10) 0.075 (No.11) 0.055 (No.12)
 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341
Table 7
Variation of the hole thickness, hole rows, and block thickness.
Hole thickness (m) Hole rows (with constant Hole rows (with constant
hollow ratio 36.4%) hole thickness 0.03 m)
0.01 1 Hole row
0.015 Block thickness 0.09 m Hollow ratio 12.1%
0.02 2 Hole rows
0.025 Block thickness 0.045 m Hollow ratio 24.3%
0.03 3 Hole rows
0.035 Block thickness 0.03 m Hollow ratio 36.4%
0.04 4 Hole rows
0.045 Block thickness 0.0225 m Hollow ratio 48.6%
In Fig. 10, when the hole number of each row rises, the ther-
mal resistance and decrement factor of wall both reduce, while the
total heat flux increases. The reason for this is that increasing the
hole number of each row is equivalent to adding “thermal bridges”
into the block (the number of rib increases). Although the ther-
mal resistance of each hole is constant, large amount of heat flows
via the “thermal bridges”, which weakens the resisting effect of
the holes against the heat flux, decreases the thermal resistance
and decrement factor, and increases the total heat flux. Besides,
when the hole number of each row is constant, the thermal resis-
tance and decrement factor rise and the total heat flux reduces
with the decrease of the rib width. The decrease of rib width is
equivalent to narrowing the “thermal bridges”, which is conducive
to resist the heat flux. However, these factors have little effect on
the time lag of wall. Therefore, taking the demand of mechanical
condition as premise, reducing the rib width and hole number of
each row properly are conducive to the improvement of thermal
performance.
4.4.2. Influence of the hole thickness, hole rows, and block
thickness
The influence of the hole thickness, hole rows, and block thick-
ness is analyzed in this section (the variation is shown in Table 7);
meanwhile, the unstaggered arrangement between every two hole
rows has been maintained. The equivalent thermal conductivities
of the holes with different thicknesses are in Table 8 [29].
(1) Maintaining the block thickness of 0.19 m and 3 hole rows,
the influence of the hole thickness of each row is analyzed (the first
column in Table 7).
It can be known from the calculation that the thermal resis-
tance and total heat flux vary slightly and tend to constant with
the increase of the hole thickness from 0.010 m to 0.045 m (the
thermal resistance increases from 0.27 m2 K W−1 to 0.30 m2 K W−1 ,
and the total heat flux decreases from 1785.82 kJ m−2 day−1 to
1622.98 kJ m−2 day−1 ). As the hole thickness rises, the thermal-
conduction resistance of the holes increases, but, meanwhile, the
convective effect and consequently the heat convection are also
enhanced. In addition, the increase of the hole thickness enlarges
the temperature difference between the cold and hot surfaces of
each hole, which increases the heat radiation inside holes. The
combined effect of these factors makes the thermal resistance of
holes tend to constant. Therefore, the thermal resistance of wall
tends to constant as well. After the hole thickness has exceeded
0.02 m, the thermal resistance increases slightly. The decreases of
the decrement factor and time lag are both approximately linear,
in which the decrease speed of the decrement factor is relatively
rapid (from 8.39 to 5.94), while that of the time lag is slower (from
6.8 h to 4.5 h). As the thermal resistance slightly increases, how-
ever, it accompanies with the increase of hole rate, producing the
decrease of volume-weight and consequently the decreases of the
339
Block thickness (with constant Block thickness (with constant
hole spacing 0.025 m) hole thickness 0.03 m)
Block thickness 0.14 m
Block thickness 0.015 m Hole spacing 0.015 m (on the
thickness direction)
Block thickness 0.19 m
Block thickness 0.03 m Hole spacing 0.025 m (on the
thickness direction)
Block thickness 0.24 m
Block thickness 0.045 m Hole spacing 0.04 m (on the
thickness direction)
Block thickness 0.29 m
Block thickness 0.065 m Hole spacing 0.05 m (on the
thickness direction)
decrement factor and time lag. Namely, the increase of the thermal
resistance does not always come with the rises of decrement factor
and time lag; furthermore, the increases of the hole thickness and
thermal resistance can not apparently reduce the total heat flux; on
the contrary, the amplitude of the heat flux on the interior surface
of wall increases, which produces the increase of the start and stop
frequency of air-conditioning device, the temperature fluctuation
of indoor air, the building energy consumption, and the decrease
of comfort degree. Therefore, it is infeasible to increase the hole
thickness of hollow block excessively.
(2) Maintaining the block thickness of 0.19 m and the hole rate
of 36.4%, the influence of the hole rows is analyzed (accompanying
with the hole thickness varies from 0.09 m to 0.02 m, the second
column in Table 7).
It is demonstrated that the increasing number of hole
rows markedly improves the thermal resistance and reduces
the total heat flux: the thermal resistance increases from
0.19 m2 K W−1 to 0.33 m2 K W−1 and the total heat flux decreases
from 2163.35 kJ m−2 day−1 to 1531.24 kJ m−2 day−1 with the hole
rows increases from 1 to 4; meanwhile, the decrement factor and
time lag also rise (the decrement factor rises from 4.72 to 8.04 and
the time lag rises from 4.6 h to 5.9 h). Obviously, for the same hole
rate, it is far more effective to increase the hole rows than to raise
the hole thickness for the improvement of thermal performance.
(3) Maintaining the block thickness of 0.19 m and the hole
thickness of 0.03 m, the influence of the hole rows is analyzed
(accompanying with the hole rate varies from 12.1% to 48.6%, the
third column in Table 7).
The trend of thermal resistance and total heat flux is the same
as that in (2), and the values are nearly the same: the ther-
mal resistance increases from 0.19 m2 K W−1 to 0.34 m2 K W−1
and the total heat flux decreases from 2146.63 kJ m−2 day−1 to
1518.73 kJ m−2 day−1 with the hole rows increases from (1) to (4).
By comparing the cases of (2) and (3), it can be found that increas-
ing the hole thickness can not remarkably improve the thermal
resistance of wall with small amount of hole rows (e.g. (1) or (2)),
and decreasing the hole thickness can not remarkably reduce the
thermal resistance of wall with large amount of hole rows (e.g.
(4)) as well. Besides, when the hole rate is higher than 36.4%,
the decrement factor almost no longer increases, and the time lag
starts to reduce. At this time, increasing hole rows is accompanied
with raising hole rate excessively. Therefore, the hole rate should
be restrained under 48.6%. The above analysis demonstrates that,
increasing the hole rows can markedly raise the thermal resis-
tance of wall, however, the overlarge hole rate restrains the rise
of the decrement factor and time lag, even makes them reduce. It
is infeasible to increase the thermal resistance without consider-
ing the decrement factor and time lag. This indicates the necessity
to completely analyze the factors influencing the thermal perfor-
mance of wall.
340 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341

Table 8
Equivalent thermal conductivities of the holes with different thicknesses [27].

Hole thickness (m) 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04 0.045

Equivalent thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1 ) 0.056 0.083 0.115 0.143 0.179 0.214 0.25 0.267 0.3
Hole thickness (m) 0.05 0.055 0.06 0.065 0.07 0.075 0.08 0.085 0.09
Equivalent thermal conductivity (W m−1 K−1 ) 0.333 0.367 0.4 0.433 0.467 0.5 0.533 0.567 0.6

Table 9
Variation of the hole widths of the two holes in each row.

Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Hole widths of the two holes 0.150/0.150 0.140/0.160 0.135/0.165 0.115/0.185 0.095/0.205 0.075/0.225 0.055/0.245 0.035/0.265
in each row (m)
Whether staggered or not No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

(4) Maintaining the hole spacing of 0.025 m and 3 hole rows, the
influence of the block thickness is analyzed (accompanying with the
hole rate varies from 12.1% to 48.6%, the fourth column in Table 7).
It is calculated that the rise of block thickness (accompany-
ing with the increase of hole thickness) increases the thermal
resistance and reduces the total heat flux: the thermal resistance
increases from 0.24 m2 K W−1 to 0.37 m2 K W−1 and the total heat
flux decreases from 1892.14 kJ m−2 day−1 to 1414.76 kJ m−2 day−1
with the block thickness increases from 0.14 m to 0.29 m; mean-
while, the decrement factor and time lag also increase (from 5.50 h
to 10.40 h, and from 4.7 h to 7.1 h, respectively).
(5) Maintaining the hole thickness of 0.03 m and 3 hole rows,
the influence of block thickness is analyzed (accompanying with
the hole spacing on the thickness direction varies from 0.015 m to
0.05 m, the fifth column in Table 7).
The thermal resistance of wall linearly increases (from
0.25 m2 K W−1 to 0.37 m2 K W−1 ) with the increase of block thick-
ness; meanwhile, the total heat flux reduces gradually (from
1814.84 kJ m−2 day−1 to 1434.49 kJ m−2 day−1 ). The decrement fac-
tor and time lag both increase rapidly (the decrement factor rises
from 4.67 to 15.90, and the time lag rises from 3.6 h to 9.2 h). Com-
paring with the increase of hole thickness in Section 4, the increase
of hole spacing on the thickness direction produces the rise of
the volume-weight of wall, facilitating the increase of the decre-
ment factor and time lag. Although the thermal resistance increases
slightly, considering the large increasing range of the decrement
factor and time lag, it is more effective to increase the hole spac-
ing than to raise the hole thickness for improving the thermal
performance.
4.4.3. Influence of the staggered and unstaggered arrangement of
holes
The staggered and unstaggered arrangement of holes varies as
Table 9. Meanwhile, the block thickness of 0.19 m, three hole rows,
two holes of each row, the hole thickness of 0.03 m, the rib width of
0.03 m, and the same hole rate have been maintained. Each type of
block is numbered (Table 9). It is calculated that, from nos.1–8, the
thermal resistance, decrement factor and time lag increase slightly,
and the total heat flux reduces slowly. Namely, whether every two
rows of holes are staggered or not, it produces little impact on the
thermal performance of wall. It is suitable to make every two rows
of holes be staggerly arranged in block.
5. Conclusions
The influence on the thermal performance of hollow block wall
produced by boundary condition, the thermo-physical properties of
block materials, and the configuration of hollow block was analyzed
in this paper using the indexes of thermal resistance, decrement
factor, and time lag. The two-dimensional energy equation was
solved for the calculations. A typical hollow block was selected
for the experiments under static and dynamic temperature condi-
tions; the method is herein called temperature-change hot chamber
method (TCHCM). It demonstrated that the calculation results had a
reasonable agreement with the experimental data. By the analyses,
the following conclusions are drawn:
(1) There are large temperature amplitude (2.9 ◦ C), small decre-
ment factor (4.02), and long time lag (6 h) on the interior surface
of wall with an uncontrolled indoor air temperature; while
there are small temperature amplitude (1.3 ◦ C), large decre-
ment factor (9.44), and short time lag (4.4 h) with a constant
indoor air temperature.
(2) The temperature amplitude on the interior surface of wall
increases with the increasing amplitude of the outdoor air;
however, the decrement factor and time lag both slightly
decrease (4.02 h, 4.10 h, 4.07 h, 3.85 h, and 6 h, 5.42 h, 5.58 h,
5.17 h, respectively).
(3) Superior thermal performance can be obtained with low ther-
mal conductivity of block material (lower than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 ).
(4) Increasing the thermal capacity of block material is an effec-
tive way to raise the decrement factor and time lag of wall
when the thermal conductivity of block material is constant;
when the thermal conductivity and the thermal capacity are
higher than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 and 1.0 MJ m−3 K−1 , respectively, it
is more effective to increase thermal capacity than to reduce
thermal conductivity for the improvement of decrement factor
and time lag.
(5) The impact trend of the equivalent thermal conductivity of the
material inside holes is the same as that of the thermal conduc-
tivity of block material; the impact of the equivalent thermal
conductivity of the material inside holes is apparent and close
to that of the thermal conductivity of block material when the
two thermal conductivities are close to each other.
(6) Taking the demand of mechanical condition and the limit of
hole rate (not higher than 48.6%) as premise, the factors influ-
encing thermal performance are ranked with the functions in
descending order as [10]
• decreasing the thermal conductivity of block material (smaller
than 1.0 W m−1 K−1 is advisable);
• increasing the thermal capacity of block material (larger than
1.0 MJ m−3 K−1 is advisable);
• decreasing the equivalent thermal conductivity of the material
inside holes (close to the thermal conductivity of block material
is advisable);
• increasing block thickness (accompanying the increase of hole
spacing);
• increasing the hole rows (three rows or more is advisable) with
small hole thickness (not higher than 0.02 m);
 Y. Zhang et al. / Energy and Buildings 75 (2014) 330–341
• increasing block thickness (accompanying the increase of hole
thickness on the thickness direction);
• increasing the hole rows (two or three rows are advisable) with
large hole thickness (0.03 m);
• reducing the hole number of each row (two or three rows are
advisable);
• staggered arrangement of every two hole rows.
Besides, it can raise the thermal resistance of wall by increas-
ing hole thickness; however, this will also reduce the decrement
factor and time lag with a faster speed, which is infeasible for the
energy conservation. It is advisable to make the hole thickness be
not higher than 0.02 m.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by The 12th Five Year
National Science and Technology Support Key Project of China (NO.
2011BAJ03B14) and (NO. 2011BAE14B06), and the Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 51308104).
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