Thermal Mass: Steel Construction
Thermal Mass: Steel Construction
Thermal Mass: Steel Construction
CONSTRUCTION
Thermal Mass
2 THERMAL MASS
Tata Steel and the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) have worked closely
together for many years to promote the effective use of structural steelwork. This collaborative
effort ensures that advances in the knowledge of the constructional use of steel are shared with
construction professionals.
Steel is, by some margin, the most popular framing material for multi-
n.info storey buildings in the UK and has a long track record of delivering
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s teelc high quality and cost-effective structures with proven sustainability
www. benefits. Steel can be naturally recycled and re-used continuously,
: and offers a wide range of additional advantages such as health and
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Follow safety benefits, speed of construction, quality, efficiency, innovation,
offsite manufacture and service and support.
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The steel sector is renowned for keeping specifiers abreast of
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onstr the latest advances in areas such as fire protection of structural
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Linke steelwork and achieving buildings with the highest sustainability
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ons truct ratings. Recent publications have provided detailed guidance
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ion.in the construction sector. Guidance is provided on all relevant
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This guide was written by the SCI for Tata Steel and the British Constructional Steelwork
Association.
THERMAL MASS 3
Contents
Vanguard House, Daresbury
Introduction 4
Case Studies
Cover photos
1
2
Met Office Headquarters, Exeter
Hauser Forum, University of Cambridge
1 2 3 4
3 Bridge Academy Hackney
5 6 7 8
4 St. Alphege Learning and Teaching Building,
University of Winchester
5 Outwood Academy, Adwick
6 Failsworth School, Manchester
7 Devonshire Building, Newcastle University
9 10 11 12
8 Houghton Health Centre, Houghton-le-Spring
9 South Cambridgeshire District Council, Cambourne
10 Barnsley College
11 The Business Academy Bexley
12 Capital City Academy, London
13 14 15 16
13 Arup Campus, Blythe Valley Park, Solihull
14 Vulcan House, Sheffield
15 ARK All Saints Academy, London
16 Oxtalls Campus, University of Gloucestershire
4 THERMAL MASS
Effec
therm tive
al ma
solut ss
Introduction be ac
ions
can
hieve
any m d wit
ateria h
Thermal mass describes the ability of the fabric of a It dispels the myth that l
building to absorb and store heat. Used effectively, it thermal mass is only
can reduce cooling loads and, in some cases, remove effective in heavyweight
the requirement to provide air conditioning. In most buildings with thick concrete floors and
multi-storey buildings, the thermal mass is provided by demonstrates that fabric energy storage strategies are
the concrete in the upper floor slabs. equally effective in structurally efficient, steel-framed
buildings.
This guide is an introduction to the use
fo
of thermal mass to reduce ion.in Thermal mass is not a universal panacea
ons truct
steelc
operational energy use in non- www. however and FES strategies are not
domestic buildings in the UK. appropriate in all buildings. Location,
:
It describes thermal mass and
f i n t erest form, orientation, occupancy patterns
le o
explains how it can be used as Artic and servicing strategy can all preclude
part of a fabric energy storage (FES) ASS a natural or mixed-mode ventilation
E R M AL M
strategy to achieve sustainable, • TH strategy and therefore limit the viability
energy efficient buildings. of a fabric energy storage solution.
Thermal mass describes the ability of materials within Figure 1 The effects of thermal mass on internal
the fabric of a building to absorb, store and release heat temperatures.
energy and reduce the energy normally required for
cooling. In non-domestic buildings thermal mass is used, Peak temperature
delayed by up to 6 hrs
together with an appropriate ventilation strategy, to cool Up to 6 - 8 °C difference
between peak external
the building without the need for air conditioning or as 30 and internal temperature
This six-storey steel-framed office building has strong green credentials and,
through a combination of renewable energy, mixed-mode ventilation, extensive
use of thermal mass and a sophisticated building management system, it has
been possible to reduce carbon emissions by around 50% compared to current
national standards for offices.
The frame comprises fabricated steel beams that support exposed, precast
concrete barrel-vaults on their bottom flanges. Openings in the webs of the
beams allow services to be distributed in the plenum above the concrete floor
units.
The team opted for a steel-framed solution, rather than within an exposed hollow floor deck, steel frame building as
concrete, due to the relative cost and time savings the it can within a concrete frame.
material offered.
“In this instance we chose to use steel with hollow floor deck
The steel-framed building was designed to exploit thermal because of the cost and time efficiencies that it offered.”
mass, providing “inertia” against temperature fluctuations.
As a result of using a steel frame, approximately 5% was
Mott MacDonald technical director Edward Murphy, says: saved on the cost of the frame and the job was completed
“Thermal mass can, if designed correctly, be just as effective four weeks earlier than would otherwise have been expected.
BRE, the Concrete Centre and CIBSE all acknowledge Figure 3: Thermal admittance against thickness for an
that, based on a 24-hour cycle of heating and cooling, exposed, flat concrete floor slab –
heat energy can only penetrate up to around 100mm 24 hour diurnal cycle.
into the exposed building element and conclude that
designing thicker floors specifically to utilise thermal mass
offers little benefit. 4
Admittance ( W/m2K)
admittance which can be defined as the ability of a
building element to exchange heat with a space when it
is subject to cyclical variations in temperature. Reflecting 2
construction
syste ve in
framed buildings.
ti
effec d
Passive FES systems e e l- frame
s t
ngs
Passive FES systems rely on natural buildi
ventilation to disperse the heat absorbed by
the upper floor slabs. As they are dependent
on wind direction and speed, they are only suitable Common ‘active’ FES systems include:
for buildings with relatively simple requirements and Underfloor ventilation with exposed soffits. In this
low cooling loads (up to 30 W/m2). They are easy to solution, the underfloor void is used as a supply plenum,
operate, with low capital, maintenance and operation allowing good heat interchange with the floor slab.
costs. When used in conjunction with exposed soffits, thermal
linking on both sides of the slabs is enabled.
Natural ventilation can be achieved from one side
only, by cross ventilation or by stack ventilation, Exposed hollowcore slabs with mechanical
generally using atria. The control of the ventilation is ventilation. In this system, the heat exchange between
fundamental to the optimum operation of passive FES the floor soffit and the occupied space is supplemented
systems. by low velocity air passage within the hollow slabs.
Active FES systems Water cooled slabs. In this system, heat transfer is
In active FES systems, the heat exchange with the achieved by water circulating in pipes embedded within
structure is enhanced by mechanical ventilation, the floor slabs. Condensation is avoided by using water
either within the core of the slab or over its surface. In at between 14-20°C and therefore water from sources
practice, the methods used in the UK are mixed-mode such as rivers, lakes, boreholes, etc, can be used.
systems combining natural and mechanical ventilation, Alternatively, the water can be chilled mechanically. The
with natural ventilation being the default mode to system can also be used in heating mode by circulating
minimise energy consumption. water at between 25-40°C.
a 120m deep borehole. The water is used to cool the building or,
when necessary, to heat it via a heat pump.
Triangular in plan, this 16-storey, deep plan building is centred A natural ventilation system draws fresh air into the building
around a soaring atrium which extends from the ground floor through three large earth tubes which act as earth-to-air heat
to roof level. The building has a glazed double-skin façade. exchangers. A passive stack system then distributes the air
through the building via displacement vents.
16.5m long fabricated steel beams provide large, column-
free, flexible floor plates. The beams support exposed precast The concrete soffits have been left exposed maximising the
concrete coffer units that are notched to sit on the bottom thermal mass and a night cooling strategy reduces supplemen-
flanges of the beams. tary cooling alongside both annual and peak demand.
25
Thermal mass should not be considered as a ‘stand
20
alone’ solution; simply exposing the upper floor soffits
15
in a
10
building is unlikely to be effective. To work well, thermal
5 mass needs to be integrated into an holistic building
0 design which considers:
With ceiling tiles With exposed With ceiling tiles With exposed
thermal mass thermal mass
Composite slab on
steel beams & columns
Concrete flat slab
on concrete
• Orientation of the building to optimise natural
ventilation, day lighting and solar gains
This confirms the findings from other studies that • Fenestration – both in terms of location and area of
show that operational carbon emissions for buildings glazing and its material properties
are independent of the framing material and dispels • Shading (both internal and external) to control and
the myth that heavyweight buildings provide superior limit solar gains
thermal mass performance. • Limiting internal heat gains
• Servicing strategy – particularly the ventilation
The modelling results showed that when the ceiling tiles strategy.
were removed to expose the floor soffits, the additional
thermal mass benefit was negated by the increased Each building is bespoke and therefore a detailed
internal volume that required additional heating and assessment is required to establish the suitability of
cooling. using and optimising a FES strategy.
THERMAL MASS 13
The exposed soffits are able to absorb heat from the room
at times of peak temperature; this is then removed by
the introduction of cool night air; reducing the need for
mechanical heating and cooling.
Sussex Coast College, Hastings This six-storey steel-framed college building is situated
adjacent to the town’s railway station and provides 20,000m2
of new learning space for sixth form students.
st:
o f intere
le
Artic
Many recent steel-framed buildings SS
M A L MA
have benefited from using thermal R
• THE
mass. The following case studies are
just some examples of this…
Met Office Headquarters, Exeter Hauser Forum, Bridge Academy Hackney St Alphege Learning and Teaching
University of Cambridge Building, University of Winchester
Outwood Academy, Adwick Failsworth School, Manchester Devonshire Building, Houghton Health Centre,
Newcastle University Houghton-le-Spring
South Cambridgeshire District Barnsley College The Business Academy Bexley Capital City Academy, London
Council, Cambourne
Arup Campus, Vulcan House, Sheffield ARK All Saints Academy, London Oxtalls Campus, University of
Blythe Valley Park, Solihull Gloucestershire
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Produced for
The British Constructional Steelwork Association
www.steelconstruction.org
and
Tata Steel
www.tatasteelconstruction.com
by Barrett, Byrd Associates
www.barrett-byrd.com
January 2014