Performance evaluation of passive heat barrier system in Latvian climatic conditions

Lately significant amount of research is being directed towards novel external building walls with embedded pipe systems where a fluid is circulating. Most of presented systems require additional power to function. We present a novel pipe embedded external wall with utilisation of ground heat and the performance evaluation of the system. Main advantage of the system no auxiliary power is required. The system is called Passive Heat Barrier (PHB). The extracted energy is low grade and it's applied for reducing heat losses instead of heating internal environment. The performance of the PHB is assessed using CFD program ANSYS CFX 16.2. Result show the PHB can reduce heat flux up to 3.5 times In Latvian climatic conditions. Therefore, such system can improve energy efficiency of the whole building. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.