Thermal and energy characteristics of composite structural insulated panels consisting of glass fiber reinforced polymer and cementitious materials

To improve the poor thermal properties of traditional structural insulated panels (SIPs) for better energy saving effect in the building, composited structural insulated panels (CSIPs) with glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) and cement (GFRC) materials were developed in this study. ANSYS is used to simulate the thermal properties of SIPs and CSIPs, and energy consumption of a house with these creative CSIPs were simulated by EnergyPlus. The results indicated that the zone method and modified zone method are acceptable to compute the R-value of the SIPs and the CSIPs. However, isothermal method and the parallel method are unsuitable to calculate their thermal resistance. A reduction in the stud web area and replacement of the steel web by less conductive materials are two effective ways to improve the thermal performance of SIPs. Furthermore, in terms of energy savings and thermal properties, GFRP SIPs are considerably better than steel SIPs. The conclusions are: the thermal properties of CSIPs with GFRP, GFRC or wood sheathings are nearly the same. However, a tube stud should be preferentially selected considering that its mechanical properties, easy design and construction are better than that of a folded plate. Moreover, GFRP and GFRC sheathings are given priority over wood. The novelty and new contribution of this paper is to design a thermal insulation, mechanical and durable CSIP with GFRP and GFRC, and use ANSYS to calculate its thermophysical properties and use EnergyPlus to simulate the energy consumption of a house with this CSIP.