The contribution of internal masonry thermal mass to the thermal performance of Australian housing

Although Australia has a moderate climate without the temperature extremes experienced in North America, a major component of energy consumption in the built environment is still directly related to the thermal performance of housing. A housing system with good thermal performance has a steady and comfortable internal environment and needs less energy to reach an appropriate thermal comfort level regardless of the weather conditions. Most past experimental and theoretical studies of the thermal performance of Australian housing have concentrated on the performance of the overall house rather than the influence of its individual components. Very little attention has been paid to the specific impacts of internal thermal mass, even though in general, internal partitions, the interior of the enclosure walls and concrete floor slabs all contribute and enhance the overall thermal performance. This paper presents the results of a study of the impact of internal masonry walls, in the form of internal partition walls and the interior leaf of multi-layered enclosure walling systems (such as cavity brick and reverse brick veneer), on the overall thermal performance of housing. It is shown that the internal thermal mass of masonry walls had a significant influence and is thus a useful potential means of improving the thermal performance of housing