Pergamon PII: SO360-1323(97)00029-2

Building and Enuironmmr, Vol 33, Nos 2-3, pp. 97-104, 1998 0 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd All nghts reserved. Prmted in Great Britain 036&1323/98 %19.00+0.00

Using Plastic Waste as Thermal Insulation for the Slab-on-grade Floor and Basement of a Building
AHMED CHkRIF MEGRI*t GILBERT ACHARD* FARIBORZ HAGHIGHATt (R eceiued 24 June 1996; revised 28 August 1996; accepted 26 May 1997)

Experimental and theoretical studies were performed to investigate the possibility of substituting traditional insulation materials with a rigid manufactured polyethylene packing waste. This procedure is of economic interest and contributes to the protection of the environment, since the disposal ofplastic waste consumes energy and results in emissions of pollutants to air, water and soil. The first part involued the measurement of the thermal characteristics of the plastic waste using a non-isothermal procedure, based on the transient state of temperature. Two methods were employed: the heat wire method and the ring sensor method. In the second part, a comparative study was carried out for different building configurations using the traditional insulation or the rigid manufactured polyethylene packing waste. The effect of the water table on a building with a rectangular slab-on-grade foundation or with a basement was studied. An analytic method and a commercial software, which uses the finite difference method in two and three dimensions, were usedfor the comparison. For all conjgurations, the quantitative values of the heat loss through the ground from the building froor demonstrate the effective performance of the rigid polyethylene oackina waste insulation and substantiate the pertinence of its use. 0 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

NOMENCLATURE increments in x, y, and z directions respectively

[ml

thermal conductivity [w. m- K-l] thermal diffusivity [m' SC] integral exponential function complementary error function adimensional Fourier number combined superficial convective and long wave radiative heat transfer coefficient at the interior surface of the floor [W rnm2. K-l] combined superficial heat transfer coefficient at the free surface of the ground [W mm. K-1 power dissipated [W m- 1 radius of the ring [m] total resistance per unit area of the different layers constituting the floor [m'. K. W-1 thermal resistance per unit area [m K. W- 1 difference between the sample temperature, at time t and point r, and the initial temperature considered as uniform 1. INTRODUCTION Traditionally, thermal insulation of the slab-on-grade or the basement floor in large buildings and buildings located in mild climates has been achieved by placing a band of Scm thick traditional insulation (such as poly*Laboratoire Genie Civil et Habitat, Ecole Superieure dIngenieurs de Chambery, Universite de Savoie, ChambCry, France. jCentre for Building Studies, Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd., W., Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G lM8. 97

styrene) around the perimeter of the floor. This current method is considered as the optimal solution between the cost of the insulation and its thermal effectiveness. However, some studies [1] show that the heat losses through the central part of the floor are as substantial as the heat losses through the peripheral part of the floor. This is due to the large difference between the dimensions (extents) of the hot interior floor surface and the cold surface of the neighboring ground which is almost infinite PI. Cleasson and Eftring [ 1] developed a theory for optimal thermal insulation, that is, how a given amount of insulation should be distributed in order to minimize the heat loss. The theory is based on calculus of variations to minimize a function which characterizes the entropy production due to the irreversabilities of the thermal transfer. Heat loss formulae for slab-on-grade and cellar with thick insulation are given. Recently, Hagentoft and Claesson [3, 41 provided an extensive study which deals with the basic case of a rectangular slab-on-grade with an even thermal insulation and with the cellar case. Many complications have been studied, for example how to deal with non-rectangular shapes, stratified ground and the effect of water table. Mitalas [5, 61 provided correlations based on a finite element model for a comprehensive set of slab-on-grade insulation configurations. Anderson [7] derived an analytic formula for the steady-state heat transfer through a slab-on-grade floor, with and without thermal insulation, based on the solution of the fundamental heat transfer equation with relevant boundary

98

A. C. Megri et al. In the centre of the ring (r = 0), at the location thermocouple, the temperature rise is given by
T(r = 0,t)=

conditions. Krarti [8, 91 developed a steady-periodic model for the heat conduction under a slab-on-grade floor with horizontal and vertical insulation. The advantage of this model is that it can handle any commonly used horizontal or vertical insulation configuration. In order to study the heat transfer to the ground from a building, a large number of interesting publications have been written from the 1940s to present day. However, these studies are concentrated in developing more precise methods in order to better calculate heating and cooling loads. Our objective is to promote an alternative procedure for the thermal insulation of the slabon-grade floor or basement of the building under the entire floor area using rigid manufactured polyethylene packing waste (plastic waste material). This alternative new procedure is interesting because it reduces the cost of operation while maintaining the same indoor environment conditions as the traditional insulation. After a brief description of the thermal property measurement techniques, two physical properties of plastic waste are determined, the thermal conductivity [W . m- K-1 and the volumetric heat capacity [J.m-3.Km], [lo]. These characteristics are used as input to the 2D and 3D heat transfer programs, Heat2 and Heat3 [II, 121, in order to calculate the heat loss through the building floor. An analytic method is also tested. Four steady-state cases of a building with a slab-on-grade foundation or with a basement have been studied. In all configurations, the results show that the thermal insulation by plastic waste material is as good as, or in same cases better than, the conventional insulation using traditional insulating material.

of the

&

.2

I!2

erfc

I, ( 4at 1

(1)

where r, is the radius of the ring (15 mm), and erfc(x) = l-$[ exp(-u)du

In order to find the thermal properties (2 and a) of the samples, the following steps are considered: -a power pulse signal is generated for a heater time, t,; -with t > t,, we have T(O,t) = &{erfc(&r-erfc(&r}; (3) -this function reaches a maximum when T = t, > t,; -the thermal diffusivity, a, can be calculated from the maximum temperature time t, and the heater time t, ri tcltnl a = 6 (t,-t,)In[t,/(t,-tt,)] -the thermal conductivity (A) can be calculated stituting equation (4) into equation (3). (4) by sub-

2. THERMAL

PROPERTY

MEASUREMENT

The polyethylene packing waste is manufactured to be rigid with a thickness of 5cm in order to have rather good mechanical characteristics to support all mechanical constraints. It is important to know the thermal properties of this new material in order to study its performance in the insulation of buildings. Two transient methods [13-l 51 are used: the ring sensor method and the heat wire method, which is standardized by the IS0 [16, 171. 2.1. Ring sensor method (method 1) The sensor is made up of a ring heater element (electrical resistance 2.40) engraved on a copper-polyamideconstantan composite which is inserted into a film of poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA). In the middle of the ring heater, a copper-constantan thermocouple is placed. By using techniques similar to those developed for the manufacturing of PC circuits, it is possible to achieve a thin structure of 0.2mm thickness. The sensor must be placed between two identical test material samples of relatively larger thickness. Taking into account the uniform power, P, dissipated in the heater element and considered as a constant at t > 0, a solution to the transient heat conduction equation, for the case where the thickness of the sample is considered as infinite, was obtained. The initial temperature is considered as homogeneous.

2.2. The heat wire method (method 2) This method is standardized by IS0 [ 161. The sensor is a conductor of very small radius, r, in comparison to its length, L (r = 0.2mm; L = 5cm), which can dissipate, by the Joule effect, a constant power, P m. mm] (P = P/L). The electrical resistance of the heater is 7.9 52. On the periphery of the wire heater element, a copperconstantan thermocouple is soldered. This ensemble is inserted into a PMMA film in the same way as per the ring sensor. This sensor must be placed between two identical samples of test material of relatively large thickness. The system, made up of the sensor and the sample, is considered as an infinite system with a local and radial dissipation of heat flow. The theoretical model for the heating needle probe wire can be applied in this case. The temperature rise T(r,t) at a distance r from the heater wire and at a time t after the heater is turned on (it is maintained constant for the entire measurement duration) is given by

with E,(x) = 5u-l. X Fo,=;. Fo, is the Fourier number related to the radial dimension r. With a small value of the integral exponential argument (that is for a large value of time or Fourier number), equation (7) becomes exp[-u]du

Using Plastic Waste as Thermal Insulation in Buildings

Table 2. Measured conductivity of the plastic waste T(r,t) = &lnT, where C = exp(y) and y = 0.557215 (Euler constant). This expression shows that the function T = Aln(t)) has an asymptote given by the following line equation [16]: T(r,t) = &bt+ln$]. This straight line replaces the function T(r,t) for the higher values of time (Fo,> > 1 or tkr/a, in our case, this condition t r > 0.25 s is always respected, as will be discussed in Section 2.3 below). The asymptote formula is used, because the measurements are taken immediately after heating. As measured temperature takes place at the sensor perimeter, at the point of sensor/material contact, the use of the asymptote formula can operate very rapidly following the starting of heat because the radius of the heating wire material is very small (0.2 mm). 2.3. Test cases and results The two sensors described above are used to measure the thermo-physical properties of the plastic waste material. These two sensors are controlled by a monitoring plant called CT-meter. This programmable plant produces the power signal desired, fixes the duration and the step interval of the measurements introduced by the user through a keyboard, stores the thermograms, and analyzes them as shown in the earlier procedures. The monitoring plant controls the validity of the results. After the determination of the thermo-physical thermogram is autocharacteristics, a theoretical matically calculated using equation (3) or equation (9) (this thermogram is based on previously developed theoretical models) and compared with the experimental thermograms stored. The results corresponding to the physical characteristics (&a) are considered correct only if the standard deviation between the experimental and theoretical results is less than 2%. Four samples of rigid bars of polyethylene (plastic waste material), 5 cm in thickness, have been tested. The conditions and results of the measurements are given in Tables l-3. In our cases, a = 1.6 x 10m7, r = 2 x lo-*--+Fo, = (at/?).t = 4.t, Fo,> >l-+t> >0.25s, which is always respected because our heater time is 400 s. The values chosen for the numerical study are 1=0.195anda= 1.6~10~. Conductivity ~;t-r~n~~~-] Sample Conductivity w. m-l. K-l] Method 2 0.220 0.189 0.198 0.189

99

Mean conductivity [w. m- K-1 0.197 0.191 0.197 0.194

1
2 3 4

0.175 0.193 0.197 0.200

Table 3. Chosen diffusivity and volumetric heat capacity of the plastic waste Sample 1 2 3 4 Volumetric heat capacity [KJ.m3.Km] 1120.0 1222.2 1221.o 1239.6 Mean diffusivity x 10 [m2.sm] 1.7589

1.5621
1.6134 1.5650

Measurement of the thermal characteristics of the bars of polyethylene packing waste show that the thermal conductivity (1 = 0.195 W. m- K-) is almost five times greater than that of the traditional insulation used in buildings. To obtain the same thermal resistance per unit area (r, = e/I), the thickness of plastic waste required is therefore five times greater than that for traditional insulation. The first objective is to choose the appropriate placement of the plastic waste without creating technological problems. Although it is better to use great quantities to increase the use of the plastic waste material, it is unwise to use it as vertical insulation in the walls because the wall thickness becomes very large, between 50 and 6Ocm on average. Furthermore, some construction processes must be completely modified, especially processes concerning openings, surface coverings, links between components, and so on. The same critical remarks apply to using the plastic waste in a roof. On the other hand, the above situations are not attractive because the heat transfer can be considered as onedirectional, or in other terms, the hot exchange surface is as large as the cold exchange surface. The only useful application of the plastic waste is for insulating the slabon-grade floor or basement of the building. Since the conductivity of the plastic waste is five times greater than the conductivity of the usual insulation material, the

Table 1.Measurement conditions Sample Power Method 1 Measurement time [s] 500 500 500 500 Heater time [s] 60 60 60 60 Power WI 0.205 0.073 0.205 0.205 Method 2 Measurement time (heater time) [s] 400 400 400 400

WI
1.96 1.56 1.56 1.96

100

A. C. Megri et al.
tangular (2D) or parallelepiped (3D) elements and automatically calculate the desired grid based on user input (such as boundary co-ordinates for the different layers, coefficient of expansion, grid density). In the numerical formulation, the partial differential equation (10) is replaced by a discrete approximation. The temperature field is approximated by values at discrete points. This gives a computational mesh. The field is considered at consecutive time-steps with a time increment At. Only rectangular meshes can be used. The smaller these increments are, the better is the agreement with the true temperature distribution. Equation (15) gives the new temperature based on the change in energy during the time-step At. This calculation is made for all cells. The updated temperatures give the new heat flows between the cells according to equation (16), which in turn change the temperature again, and so on [ll, 12, 181.

material is more suitable as a bulk insulator as opposed to surface insulation where a very thick layer is required. The use of a crossed pile of plastic waste under the entire floor area with a constant thickness or with an increased insulation thickness along the periphery, where the foundation is more exposed to outdoor conditions, is suggested. In this case, the plastic waste material can be used in a large quantity. The thermal performance is comparable to that of the traditional solution, as we shall see from the numerical study below.

3. NUMERICAL

AND ANALYTICAL

STUDY

In our basic thermal problem, we consider pure heat conduction in a homogenous ground with constant thermal properties. The temperature T(x,y,z,t) in the ground satisfies the following heat conduction equation:

The elementary heat flux crossing a surface dS of the ground, in the ii direction, is given by Fouriers law

d$ = -E.+i~g;d.dS.

(1 I)

Three different boundary conditions must be applied to the boundary segments of the problem. The first prescribes the temperature on a boundary such as the boundary condition at the water table

[Ql= ITM-I.

(16)

Tbound =f(t).

(12)

The second type corresponds to a prescribed heat flux crossing through a boundary. Using the normal derivative instead of the scalar product between the normal of the boundary and the temperature gradient at the boundary, we obtain

I$ = s(C i T b0lld

(13)

On the symmetric planes, g(t) = 0. The third type corresponds to a prescribed temperature h(t) of the surrounding region and superficial thermal exchange characterized by an equivalent thermal resistance R[m2.K.W-]

+RmTbound = R-h(t). I= 7;hound

.a

(14)

3.2. Analytical method For certain steady-state temperature cases with simple geometries (as we will see in cases 1 and 3 below, without a water table) an analytical method, developed by Achard et al. [19, 201, was used to compare its results with those obtained by the two computer programs. This analytical method is based on the adoption of a superficial temperature profile over the surface of the ground. This surface must be plane (which excludes cases 2 and 4 described in Section 3.3 below). The temperature profile consists of three regions: one at interior temperature T,, which corresponds exactly to the interior surface up to the interior part of the peripheral walls, the second at exterior temperature T,,, and the third which links the two previous regions by a linear variation of the temperature between T,, and T,,. It takes place at the contour of the building straight to the peripheral walls (Fig. 1). For the 2D case, the heat flux across the interior ground surface of width b is given by

The initial temperature distribution at time I = t,,,,, is denoted in two dimensions by T(~,y,t,,,,,), and in three dimensions by T(~,y,z,t,~.,~). In the steady-state case, the initial temperatures are irrelevant to the solution. 3.1. Numerical method The calculation of the steady-state heat flux, through the different surfaces of the system under study, was conducted with the use of two computer programs, Heat2 and Heat3 [ 11,121. These programs use the robust explicit finite difference technique to solve the heat transfer equation in 2D and 3D, respectively. The programs use rec-

Y
<

Tsi

Tse

///////////////////////

semi-infinite soil
Fig. 1. Analytic method in 2D.

Using Plastic Waste as Thermal Insulation in Buildings 4 2D = &II- ( 1 - In p) . [ Tsi- T,,] [W/m]
with: p = d/b. This formula allows for the definition of a 1D equivalent for the semi-infinite ground (excluding cases with a water table). This equivalent is a layer with a soil conductivity, 1,, and thickness, h,, = nb/( 1- lnp), such that 25m (17)

101

Z (m)
Ti=20c d = 0.3

Te=OC
Adiabaticsurfaccs

(18)
where Y = heq/ls is the thermal resistance per unit area of the one-dimensional equivalent. The only difficulty resides in identifying the coupling parameter or the dimensions b and d. In 2D, it is logical to define b at the interior mid-width of the building. Here, the preceding thermal resistance can be directly added to the different resistances of the layers making up the floor and to the superficial resistances (resistances in series) in order to calculate the heat flux between the internal environment at T, and the external environment at T,, across the floor+ground system. To determine dimension d, the reference [ 191 proposes using an identification method. As we opted for a study of the heat transfer solely through the floor and ground, we avoid treating the thermal bridges occurring around the floor edge, that is, at the floor-wall junctions. In this way, we identify d as the thickness of the wall, which is 30cm in all the cases studied. In 3D, the method described above can equally be used with the same restrictions to define a 1D equivalent [21]. Its thickness is given by h nbX eq,D= (X+ l)(l -lnp)+lnX
p =

Adiabatic sur&ce

Fig. 2. The studied system in 2D without water table

presence of a water table situated at a depth of 5 m from the floor (Figs 2-4). We consider the steady-state case, where the conductivity of the ground is equal to the conductivity of the concrete (1, = 1, = 1.9 W. m- . K-l). In 3D, four configurations are studied as follows: --configuration (1): building with slab-on-grade foundation (Fig. 3a), without a water table; --configuration (2): building with slab-on-grade foundation (Fig. 3b), with a water table at 5C; -configuration (3): building with a basement (Fig. 4a), without a water table; -configuration (4): building with a basement (Fig. 4b), with a water table at 5C. Only the first two configurations 2). For each configuration lows: four cases are studied, as folare studied in 2D (Fig.

(19)

d+#!
c

--case 1: without insulation between the bottom face of the floor and the ground; -ase 2: traditional insulation using polystyrene (1. = 0.04 W. m- . Km) around the perimeter of the

where X = c/b is the form ratio (less than 1) of the indoor area of the basement floor equal to 4 x b x c, and p is the weighted average of the coupling factors for each direction. 3.3. Test cases and results In order to evaluate the performance of the rigid polyethylene packing waste insulation, a comparative study has been done between the traditional peripheral insulation and the continuous insulation with polyethylene packing waste material, for different building configurations. These comparisons have been conducted for a 2D geometry corresponding to the central part of a very long building. The 3D geometry corresponds to a small building with a square cross-section (plan view) or to the extremities of a very long building, In this latter case, we have also introduced a case where the foundation floor level in the central part is lower than the floor level at the extremities of the building. The purpose was to simulate the eventual presence of a garage or basement under the central portion. These studies have been conducted with or without the

collfiguration 1

configuration 2 Z (m)

(W
Fig. 3. Configurations studied for building with slab-on-grade.

102
Configuration 3 :
verticalsection A0

A. C. Megri

et al. 4, which also shows, in parentheses, the values obtained from the analytical method. Figure 3 illustrates two 3D configurations studied for the slab-on-grade. They represent the following: -the base of the building with area (2b x 2ctthe study then considers one quarter of the floor area due to symmetry. -the external part of a very long building with width, 26-the study then considers half (c x h) the extremity of the floor due to symmetry, or the presence of boundaries can be considered as adiabatic (c and b can be inverted). In this case, the study of the central portion of the floor is conducted in 2D (see preceding section).

Configuration 4 : vertical section A0

20C
0.2 m L L 4.7m

ZW

0C 25m'

1 c 0.3 m -7Jt--

l_______Tl_______i

10C

$+y-y
s 1
WatmtabkatSC ____~~_________L_____! I I

i
I

Fig. 4. Configurations studied for building with basement

Figure 4 describes the other two 3D configurations studied which correspond to a peripheral slab-on-grade surrounding a central unheated basement portion (garage). The area of the floor studied is equal to (2c x b) or (26 x c) due to longitudinal symmetry. Table 5 summarizes the results obtained from Heat3 for the four cases studied in 3D. The conventions are identical to those used in Table 4. The analysis of the results shows that: -the results given by the two programs, Heat2 and Heat3, and those calculated analytically are in good agreement (the maximum difference is 2%); -in the 3D case, the presence of the water table at 5 m is favourable in configuration 2. The heat loss from the building is reduced; -the new procedure using plastic waste is very competitive with the traditional insulation using polystyrene. From the different cases, we notice that the plastic waste provided the same performance (case 3) or better (case 4). However, in these cases, we assumed that the plastic was made up of one block (without contact resistance).

building, 1.2 m in width (the thickness of the insulation is 5 cm); --case 3: insulation by bars of polyethylene waste (thickness = 10 cm, conductivity measured = 0.195 W. m- K- under entire area of floor); --case 4: insulation by bars of polyethylene waste (thickness = 20 cm around perimeter and 1.6 m in width and 10 cm elsewhere). Figure 2 shows the inputs for the systems studied and the boundary conditions in 2D without the water table (adiabatic surface). In the configurations considering the water table, the first thermal boundary condition is applied at the 5 m water table level (T = 5C). The thermal losses from the building (T[ = 20C) through the ground floor, insulated or not (r,= 0.115 m2 K. W-), with an exterior temperature T, = 0C correspond to the heat flux per unit length, at steady-state, across the floor surface of width h = 3.85m. This criterion is used to compare the different cases of floor insulation. A numerical mesh of 40 x 40 x 40 was considered. The results of the simulation giving the heat loss through the surface of the floor are given in Table 4 for the 2D configurations and Table 5 for the 3D configurations. The results obtained from Heat2 (2D) are given in Table

4. CONCLUSION For different samples of the new rigid manufactured polyethylene packing waste, the thermo-physical properties are found to be similar for the two measurement techniques employed. The volumetric heat capacity is in accordance with the literature for a similar plastic material. The value of the conductivity is 0.195 W .rn- -K-l. The plastic waste studied is not as good an insulator as the traditional insulation material used in buildings. However, its performance results are

Table 4. Heat loss through the floor of the building (2D) [W/m] Configuration 1: slab-on-grade, 2D configuration, without water table Case 1: (floor without insulation) Case 2: (traditional peripheral insulation, 1.2m in width, 1 = 0.04 W/m K) thickness: 5 cm Case 3: continuous insulation with polyethylene waste (A = 0.195 W/m.K), thickness: 1Ocm Case 4: polyethylene waste (thickness = 20 cm + 10 cm around perimeter, 1.6m in width) 37 (36.2) 30 29.3 (29.1) 27 Configuration 2: slab-on-grade, 2D configuration, with water table at 5 m and 5C 39 31.5 29.9 27

Using Plastic

Waste as Thermal Insulation

the floor of the building

in Buildings
(3D) [WI Configuration 3: basement, 3D, without water table 528 333 365 297

103

Table 5. Heat loss through

Configuration 1: slab - on -grade, 3D. without water table Case 1: (floor without insulation) Case 2: traditional peripheral insulation, 1.2m in width, i, = 0.04 W/m K (thickness: 5 cm) Case 3: continuous insulation with plastic waste, I = 0.195 W/m. K (thickness: 1Ocm) Case: 4 plastic waste (thickness = 20 cm + 10 cm around perimeter, 1.6 m in width) 731 (743) 454 478 (487) 381

Configuration 2: slab-on-grade, 3D, with water table 554 320 344 270

Configuration 4: basement, 3D, with water table 514 323 354 292

if we consider that it is relatively inexpensive and contributes to the protection of our environment. In spite of its thermal resistance being five times lower than the traditional insulation, the plastic waste, used as crossed bars of 5cm thickness, can be considered as a viable alternative process of insulating the slab-on-grade or basement floor. The performance is comparable to the conventional perimeter method with a traditional insulation material. Furthermore, this alternative process provides the additional advantage of putting to use a large quantity of waste, which is very interesting in its valorisation.
interesting

From a thermal point of view, this process is profitable. The advantages become indisputable if we introduce the environmental point of view. Using traditional insulation does not have a positive impact on the environment, as can be shown by a life cycle analysis of the two procedures. For all configurations, the quantitative values of the heat loss through the ground from the building floor reveal the performance of the rigid polyethylene packing waste insulation and demonstrate the pertinence of its use.

REFERENCES
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Claesson, J. and Eftring,

B., Optimal distribution of thermal insulation and ground heat loss. D33, Swedish Council for Building Research, 1980. Leonachescu, N. P., Transferul caldurii intre constructii si sol, Vol. 2. Editura Technica, Bucuresti, 1989, 363 pp. [in Romanian].

Claesson, J. and Hagentoft, C. E., Heat loss to the ground from a building-I.

General theory.

11.

12. 13. 14. 15.

16. 17.

Building and Environment, 1991, 26(2), 1955208. Hagentoft, C. E. and Claesson, J., Heat loss to the ground from a building-II. Slab on the ground. Building and Environment, 1991, 26(4), 395403. Mitalas, G. P., Calculation of basement heat loss. ASHRAE Transactions, 1983, 89(1B), 42&437. Mitalas, G. P., Calculation of below-grade residential heat loss: low-rise residential building. ASHRAE Transactions, 1987, 93(l), 1112-l121. Anderson, B. R., Calculation of the steady-state heat transfer through a slab-on-ground floor. Building and Environment, 1991, 26(4), 405415. Krarti, M., Time-varying heat transfer from horizontally insulated slab-on-grade floors. Building and Environment, 1994,29(l), 63-71. Krarti, M., Time-varying heat transfer from slab-on-grade floors with vertical insulation. Building and Environment, 1994, 29(l), 55-61. Megri, A. C. and Achard, G., The study of the performance of plastic scraps used as thermal insulation on the underground of the building, Indoor air quality, ventilation and energy conservation in buildings. In 2nd international Conference, Montreal, 9-12 May 1995. Blomberg, T. R., Heat conduction in two and three dimensions. Computer modelling of building physics applications. Report TVBH-1006, Department of Building Physics Lund University, Sweden, May 1994. Blomberg, T. R., HEAT3, three-dimensional heat transfer. Manual with examples, version 2.2. Report TVBH-7160, Department of Building Physics, Lund University, Sweden, September 1994. Quenard, D., Laurent, J. P. and Sallee, H., Influence de la teneur en eau et de la temperature sur les parametres thermiques du pldtre. Revue generale de thermique, 1986, 291, 137-144. Laurent, J. P., Evaluation des paramgtres thermiques dun milieu poreux, optimisation doutils de mesure in situ. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 1989, 32(7), 1247-1259. Quenard, D. and Sallee, H., Determination rapide des parametres thermiques des materiaux par sonde a ch... et thermofluxmttres. Cahier 2295, Cahiers du centre scientifique et technique du bbtiment, livraison 294, Novembre 1988. International Standard IS0 8894-2, Refractory Materials-Determination of Thermal ConductivityPart 2: Hot- Wire Method (ParaNef), 1st edn, 1990. Achard, G., Roux, J. J. and Sublet, J. C., Description dune sonde de mesure des caracteristiques thermiques des couches superficielles du sol, Resultats dune compagne de mesures. Revue generale de thermique, 1984,267, 177-l 88.

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Eftring, B., Numerical calculations of thermal processes. Rapport R81, The Swedish Council for Building Research, 1990 [in Swedish]. Achard, G., Les singularites thermiques. In EnergCtique des bafiments, Chapitre 4-10, Vol. 2. PYC Edition, 1988, pp. 3255353. Perez-Sanchez, M., Allard, F. and Achard, G., Thermal coupling between the ground and slab-ongrade buildings. Building and Environment, 1988, 23(3), 233-242. Achard, G., Beron, R. and Yezou, R., Transferts thermiques entre un batiment et le sol. Rapport final ATP PIRSEMjSPI 8200, Avril 1986, p. 200.