Summer wall performance

To choose a wall that performs well in summer (as well as winter), it is necessary to pay attention to the value of thermal phase shift.

To have good comfort in the internal environment, it is necessary that the thermal phase shift is between approximately 8 and 12 hours. This value is sufficient to ensure that the heat peak occurring in the early afternoon hours reaches the interior during the cooler hours (at night), when it can be more easily dissipated through ventilation of the rooms. Phase shift values greater than 12 hours (typical of thick brick masonry) are not much improving, if not superfluous.

In case of high attenuation, the thermal phase shift can also be at lower values because the internal surface temperature is practically flat, has a very small oscillation, and therefore the concept of thermal phase shift, i.e., the distance in hours between temperature peaks, is no longer so relevant. In the brick market, for example, you can find products that boast exceptional characteristics in terms of thermal phase shift. It is not uncommon to find bricks that have a thermal phase shift ranging from 20 to 22 hours. This high value only worsens the comfort conditions inside a building because the heat peak that occurs in the early afternoon hours arrives inside after almost 24 hours, that is, when the wall is subjected to the temperature peak and solar radiation of the next day.

The following table shows the thermo-hygrometric performance of walls made with ICF ITALIA panels.