The Impact of Optimum Insulation Thickness of External Walls to Energy Saving and Emissions of CO 2 and SO 2 for Turkey Different Climate Regions

Abstract

In this study, the optimum insulation thickness of the external walls of the housing and it's energy saving and environmental impact in the provinces—Ardahan, Aydın, Eskişehir and Samsun—located in four different climate regions of Turkey was cal-culated for the expanded polystyrene and polyurethane insulation materials. Natural gas and coal were selected as fuels. Ardahan in the coldest climate region and Aydın in the hottest climate region, for the coal and optimum thickness of expanded polys-tyrene and polyurethane insulation materials, the reduction of CO 2 and SO 2 emis-sions. In the study, the relations between annual energy cost saving and insulation thickness are given. The value of energy cost saving increases up to optimum insula-tion thickness and beyond this level, the energy cost saving is decreased. For coal and optimum thickness of expanded polystyrene and polyurethane insulation materials, the energy cost savings was higher for the cold climate regions when it was compared with the hot climate regions.