Sustainability-Based Development of a Remote Technique to Assess the Effectiveness of Thermal Insulation in Households in West Virginia

Prateek Vaish, Ken Means, Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan (), Hailin Li and John James Recktenwald
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Prateek Vaish: Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Ken Means: Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Bhaskaran Gopalakrishnan: Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
Hailin Li: Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA
John James Recktenwald: Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506, USA

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-28

Abstract: As structures age, air leaks naturally form and can remain undetected for years, resulting in increased utility bills and, in severe cases, structural damage. The traditional method to determine if a structure has developed these leaks is through an energy audit, including blower door testing, which is costly and disturbs normal use of the building. A numerical approach to indicate the presence of air leaks, for instance, a simple mathematic formula requiring only simple building information available to any layman, would be of great value. Within this paper, a formula was developed for climate Zone 5 regions using multiple linear regression models to infer the presence of air leaks using only four input variables. To validate the model, this framework was applied to a series of 700–770 square foot (65.03–71.54 m 2 ) apartment units in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. The model was determined to be able to accurately estimate the energy consumption of a given unit within this size range with 20% accuracy, which can then be used to ascertain sub-optimal, and thus unsustainable, consumption of energy. This framework can be applied in additional climate zones to create a more robust and generally applicable formula.

Keywords: sustainability impacts; sustainable buildings; energy efficiency; insulation; comfort heating and cooling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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