The Role of Cooling Degree Days on determining the insulation of building Envelop in a hot climate (Iraqi cities as an example)

Abstract

Last decades witnessed rise in global average temperature for cities, consequently with the problem of rising needs for energy results from the growth of populations in cities. Recent studies concentrated on degree days method to calculate energy consumption for buildings, the main problem of this research is the role of cooling degree days on determining insulation of buildings envelope in a hot climate and for Iraqi cities as an example. The research aims to determine insulation of buildings envelope according to cooling degree days which reduce energy consumption; the results showed that there were differences in cooling degree days for main Iraqis cities, and there was an effect of buildings envelope insulation on cooling energy lost, the insulation for walls reduced consumption energy by 70-80%. Also, the insulation for ceiling reduced consumption energy by 65%, as compared to the same building materials without insulation.