The objective of this work was to compile available information regarding energy use in concrete homes, develop additional information as needed, and use this information to develop a methodology to properly size heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment for concrete homes in the US and Canada.

The authors prepared a literature review on thermal performance of insulated concrete walls and on sizing HVAC equipment in residential construction. The literature review, attached as Appendix A, identifies and briefly summarizes published information on (i) thermophysical properties of concrete and concrete walls, (ii) thermal behavior of concrete walls, including work performed to support the development of energy codes, (iii) general information on sizing HVAC equipment independent of construction type, and (iv) sizing HVAC equipment for insulated concrete homes. Appendix B is a summary of thermal mass in concrete and masonry.

The authors developed an Excel-based program intended for use by residential contractors to estimate the required heating and cooling system capacity for single-family concrete homes. The capacity is based on a user-defined thermostat set point, the house dimensions, construction materials, and location (US and Canada). The program uses the DOE2.1E (Winkelmann, 2002) program modules to determine energy loads for equipment sizing. A recent version of Microsoft Excel for Windows (such as Excel 97, 2000, or XP) is required to use the program. The program User’s Manual is attached as Appendix C.

The software developed for this report is available from the Portland Cement Association. The software is in their Residential Catalog as CD044 HVAC Sizing software for Concrete Homes and is available for download at www.concretehomes.com or www.cement.org.