Manufacture and Design an Apparatus for Measuring the Thermal Resistance of Building Materials

A good thermal design of buildings plays a key role in reducing the thermal loads of heating and air conditioning systems and thus reducing energy consumption. This study develops a steady-state apparatus for measuring the thermal resistance of building materials by using an absolute technique. The apparatus is designed to accommodate the full and actual size of the tested samples of building materials used in the Syrian market to ease testing. Therefore, suitable samples do not have to be built for the apparatus; the thermal resistance is measured for many samples, and the results are compared with the thermal insulation code for buildings in the Syrian Arab Republic. The results show that the difference between the resistance values obtained from the experiments and the Syrian thermal insulation code is due to the materials used in the local markets and their non-compliance with the code. These materials need testing and quality control during the manufacturing process.