Numerical Evaluation of the Thermal Balance Index of Insulated Concrete Form Blocks (ICF) in the External Building Walls (case study: residential typology in Tehran)

Introduction: One of the significant methods in the field of reducing thermal energy loss in residential buildings is to pay attention to the heat transfer capacity of building walls, which is determined based on the thermal characteristics of their layering. In many studies, the study of these walls and their layering has been done. Statement of the problem: Despite the fact that a lot of research has been done in the field of building walls and their types of materials with a heat transfer approach, insufficient attention has been paid to the thermal properties of these walls when they are designed and built with prefabricated and industrialized materials. as a lack of research and performance, which is raised as the main problem of this research. Research methodology: according to the introduction as well as the problem raised, in the current research, the focus is on the study and numerical analysis of the heat transfer characteristics of the building walls of a residential building typology example in the city of Tehran based on insulated concrete form (ICF) blocks that are different companies are designed and built. We are supposed to get a suitable answer to the problem raised through software simulation (Design Builder software) and mathematical formulation. Results: As a result of the research process based on the main problem and source studies, the characteristic of thermal balance in two separate states was extracted in insulated concrete form blocks. Then a numerical comparison was made between these two states. In the next step, a mathematical formulation was made based on the extracted results, which allows architects and building designers to pay close attention to the heat transfer of building walls (in the form of prefabricated and industrialized blocks).