Join us for a WEBINAR – Navigating Energy Codes to Maximize Thermal Mass
This course examines how concrete masonry’s thermal mass contributes to energy efficiency across a range of climate zones and building types. It describes the role of heat capacity and mass wall behavior in overall thermal performance and outlines how these attributes are addressed within current energy codes. The session reviews prescriptive, trade-off, and whole-building performance pathways in ASHRAE 90.1 and the IECC, highlighting how CMU assemblies are evaluated in each method. The course also presents commonly used compliance tools, and shows how they support energy-code documentation for mass-wall designs.
Objectives
1. Evaluate how thermal mass and energy efficiency of CMU assemblies are an important part of sustainable design.
2. Describe how thermal mass works and how it helps with energy efficiency in both warmer and cooler climates.
3. Explore how thermal mass is measured and accounted for in the code, and compare energy code compliance pathways.
4. Discuss code compliance documentation tools, what defaults to use to get the most benefits from thermal mass