Jan. 16, 2013: New Thermal Envelope Design Could Greatly Reduce Home Energy Use
TORONTO — According to collaborative research led by Ryerson University, a new residential thermal envelope design has the potential to save up to 80 percent on energy consumption.
Russell Richman, a professor in the Department of Architectural Science at Ryerson University, is the co-principal investigator of a research project exploring the practicality of what is called nested thermal envelope design. Space heating is the largest single contributor to residential energy use in Canada at 60 percent of the total. Minimizing envelope heat losses is one approach to reducing this percentage.