JP7726720B2 - building - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to buildings, and in particular to buildings in which an indoor space is formed by a roof, walls that support the roof from below, and a floor located inside the walls and below the roof.

Large buildings such as typical factories, warehouses, temporary facilities, and stores tend to have high ceilings and large indoor spaces, which means that cooling them can easily consume a lot of energy. Therefore, to reduce energy consumption, a technology has been proposed that divides the indoor space into upper and lower sections and air-conditions only the lower space.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-141937 (Patent Document 1) discloses dividing the indoor space of a large building with a high roof into a high-temperature attic space and a low-temperature above-floor space, and placing a small fan in the above-floor space to cool only the above-floor space.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-141937

The large building described in Patent Document 1 requires the installation of fans that blow air downward and sideways on the wiring and light fixtures located midway up the building, resulting in a complex structure. Furthermore, if the fans are not kept running at all times, the space above the floor (the space below) will become very hot.

The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a building that is simple in structure yet can improve the environment in the space below.

An interior structure according to one aspect of the present invention is a building in which an indoor space is formed by a roof, walls supporting the roof from below, and a floor located inside the walls and below the roof. The indoor space comprises an upper space located on the roof side and a lower space located below the upper space and on the floor side. The lower space is equipped with an air conditioning unit that conditions the air in the lower space. The wall has insulation in the area surrounding the lower space and does not have insulation in the area surrounding the upper space.

Preferably, the height of the insulation in the wall section is between 2m and 3.5m, and the height from the floor to the roof is between 4m and 7m.

Preferably, the roof section includes a roofing material whose surface faces the outdoors, and a low-emissivity member formed of a thermally emissive material, having low thermal emissivity, and disposed on the back side of the roofing material.

Preferably, the roof portion further includes an insulating material attached to the back surface of the roofing material and sandwiched between the roofing material and the low-emissivity member.

Preferably, the air conditioning unit blows air horizontally or below horizontally.

Preferably, the floor is made of insulating material.

The building of this invention has a simple structure, yet can improve the environment in the space below.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a building according to an embodiment of the present invention; 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a roof portion of a building according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a typical building with a half-height roof.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that identical or corresponding parts in the drawings will be designated by the same reference numerals and their descriptions will not be repeated.

First, before explaining the building related to this embodiment, we will briefly explain the indoor environment of a large building such as a typical factory, warehouse, temporary facility, or store, with reference to Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 3, the roof portion 102 of the building 101 is composed of, for example, a folded-plate roofing material 102. When the roofing material 102 is exposed to solar radiation, the temperature of the roofing material 102 becomes high, and the roofing material 102 emits strong radiant heat. Therefore, the radiant heat from the roofing material 102 causes the temperature in the indoor space 106 to become high.

Note that building 101 does not have a ceiling below roofing material 102. The "ceiling" refers to the space below roofing material 102, i.e., a member that seamlessly separates the entire indoor space 106 enclosed by roofing material 102, floor 105, and walls 103 and 104, into upper and lower sections. Note that in building 101, roofing material 102 and the multiple beams supporting roofing material 102 may be exposed in indoor space 106.

In addition, since the height of a typical large building to the roof 102 is 4 m or more, and in some buildings it can be 10 m or 20 m, a temperature stratification naturally occurs within the indoor space 106. That is, the upper space 161 on the roof material 102 side of the indoor space 106 becomes hot, while the lower space 162 on the floor 105 side of the indoor space 106 becomes colder than the upper space 161. Note that the lower space 162 is indicated by a bold line in Figure 3.

Because people stay in the lower space 162, air conditioning is used to improve the environment in the lower space 162, especially in the summer. However, as mentioned above, the temperature in the upper space 161 becomes high due to radiant heat from the roof material 102, and this radiant heat reaches the lower space 162. As a result, convection occurs between the upper space 161 and the lower space 162, causing the high-temperature air in the upper space 161 and the low-temperature air in the lower space 162 to mix, resulting in the phenomenon of air conditioning not working in the lower space 162.

In addition, although air conditioning is performed, especially in the summer, the cold air in the lower space 162 is thermally conducted to the walls 103, 104 and floor 105 of the lower space 162, escaping into the outdoor space, and the hot air in the outdoor space is thermally conducted to the lower space 162, making it impossible to efficiently air-condition the lower space 162.

To improve the environment in this lower space 162, this embodiment utilizes the thermal stratification that forms in the indoor space to insulate only the lower space 162 where people are staying, thereby increasing the heat retention effect of the lower space 162, especially in the summer, and improving the environment in the lower space 162. Such a building is described in detail below.

The building 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

Like a typical building 101 such as a factory, the building 1 includes a roof 2, opposing walls 3, 4, etc. that support the roof 2 from below, and a floor 5 located inside the walls 3, 4 and below the roof 2.

In the building 1, an indoor space 6 is formed by the roof 2, walls 3, 4, etc., and floor 5. The indoor space 6 comprises an upper space 61 located on the roof 2 side, and a lower space 62 located below the upper space 61 and on the floor 5 side.

With particular reference to Figure 2, the roof section 2 will now be described. The roof section 2 includes a roofing material 21 whose surface faces the outdoors, a heat insulating material 22 arranged on the back side of the roofing material 21, and a low-emissivity member 23 arranged on the back side of the heat insulating material 22. In other words, the heat insulating material 22 is sandwiched between the roofing material 21 and the low-emissivity member 23, and the roof section 2 has a multi-layer structure of the roofing material 21, the heat insulating material 22, and the low-emissivity member 23. The height H1 from the floor section 5 to the roof section 2 is between 4m and 7m, but can be as high as 10m or 20m.

The roof material 21 is typically a folded-plate roof, and is made of, for example, a steel plate or a galvalume steel plate (
By using a steel plate with high solar reflectance as the roof material 21, it is possible to further reduce the radiation of the back surface of the roof portion 2.

The insulating material 22 is attached to the entire underside of the half-split roofing material. For example, insulating materials such as glass wool or expanded polyolefin foam are used for the insulating material 22. The insulating material 22 is primarily used to prevent condensation on the roofing material 21. The thickness of the insulating material is between 4 mm and 10 mm, and preferably between 5 mm and 10 mm.

The low-emissivity member 23 has a low thermal emissivity and is formed from a thermally emissive material. The low-emissivity member 23 is attached to the entire underside of the insulating material 22. The emissivity of the thermally emissive material is 0.9 or less, preferably 0.5 or less, and more preferably 0.4 or less. Examples of thermally emissive materials that have thermal radiation properties include materials containing aluminum or copper. The low-emissivity member 23 is typically a coating or film. The thickness of the low-emissivity member 23 is thinner than the insulating material 22, and is preferably 1 mm or less.

In this way, by making the roof portion 2 of the building a multi-layer structure of roofing material 21, insulating material 22, and low-emissivity material 23, it is possible to suppress radiant heat from the back surface of the roof portion 2. This makes it possible to reduce the temperature rise in the upper space 161 of the indoor space 6.

Next, we will explain walls 3 and 4. Walls 3 and 4 are formed from multiple pillars and exterior materials, and have a simple structure with no interior materials. Walls 3 and 4 have insulation materials 73 and 74 in the area surrounding the lower space 62, but do not have insulation materials in the area surrounding the upper space 61.

The insulating materials 73, 74 are provided around the entire perimeter facing the lower space 62. The insulating materials 73, 74 extend halfway through the overall height of the wall portions 3, 4. The insulating materials 73, 74 are approximately the same height as the lower space 62. Specifically, the height H2 of the insulating materials 73, 74 is between 2 m and 3.5 m. The height of the insulating materials 73, 74 is the height of the space that requires air conditioning, especially in the summer. For example, if the height at which people will be staying is around 2 m, it is preferable that the height of the insulating materials 73, 74 be around 3 m in the surrounding area.

The insulating materials 73, 74 may be, for example, glass wool, rock wool, or expanded polyolefin foam. There are no particular restrictions on how the insulating materials 73, 74 are arranged, but for example, an exterior insulating panel in which the exterior material and the insulating material are integrally formed may be used, or the insulating material may be arranged between the exterior material and the pillar.

The floor 5 is a dirt floor formed by pouring concrete or the like. The floor 5 is preferably formed from insulating material 75. Specifically, the insulating material 75 is attached below the floor material. The insulating material 75 may be provided over the entire surface of the floor 5, or may be provided partially, for example, in an area where people stay. The material of the insulating material 75 is the same as that of the insulating materials 73 and 74 of the wall portions 3 and 4.

An air conditioner 8 is provided in the lower space 62 to condition the air in the lower space 62. The air conditioner 8 directly conditions the air in the lower space 62 and is capable of both cooling and heating operation, but it is sufficient if it is capable of at least cooling operation. The air conditioner 8 is not particularly limited, and may be a commonly available type, such as a wall-mounted type attached to a wall or a floor-standing type placed on the floor 5.

The height H3 of the air conditioning unit 8's air outlet is preferably lower than the height H1 of the insulating materials 73, 74; specifically, it is 0.5 m lower, and preferably about 1 m lower, than the height H1 of the insulating materials 73, 74. The airflow direction of the air conditioning unit 8 is preferably horizontal or below horizontal, and tilted upward rather than downward vertically. This prevents the high-temperature air in the upper space 61 and the low-temperature air in the lower space 62 from mixing, allowing air to circulate only in the lower space 62.

In this embodiment, the building 1 is provided with insulation 73, 74 only on the walls 3, 4 of the lower space 62. This utilizes the temperature stratification of the indoor space 6, allowing the upper space 61 to be kept at a high temperature due to radiant heat from the roof 2, while the lower space 62 is kept at a comfortable temperature through air conditioning by the air conditioning unit 8.

Furthermore, because the walls 3 and 4 of the upper space 61 are not provided with insulation, the high-temperature air in the upper space 61 can be dissipated from the walls 3 and 4. Because insulation materials 73, 74, and 75 are provided only in the lower space 62, the cold air in the lower space 62 is not dissipated to the outdoors, so the lower space 62 can be maintained at a comfortable temperature and energy is saved.

In addition, because the walls 3 and 4 of the lower space 62 are provided with insulating materials 73 and 74, air at the appropriate temperature can be circulated by the air conditioning unit 8 only within the lower space 62. This prevents convection between the high-temperature air in the upper space 61 and the low-temperature air in the lower space 62, making effective use of temperature stratification.

Conventionally, installing insulation in walls required interior materials, which increased costs. In this embodiment, the insulation materials 73 and 74 on walls 3 and 4 are installed only partially, rather than across the entire wall surface, thereby reducing costs. Furthermore, because the building 1 is high up to the roof material 102, scaffolding is required to install the interior materials, but installation of the insulation material only needs to be done in the lower space 62, simplifying installation.

The roof section 2 of this embodiment can reduce radiant heat from the roof section 2 by providing the roofing material 21 with a low-emissivity member 23 and insulating material 22. This makes it possible to suppress the transfer of radiant heat not only to the upper space 61 but also to the lower space 62, compared to a typical folded roof.

In the above embodiment, the roof portion 2 is described as including the roofing material 21, the insulating material 22, and the low-emissivity material 23. However, the roof portion 2 may be composed of only the roofing material 21 without the insulating material 22 and the low-emissivity material 23, or may be composed of only the roofing material 21 and the low-emissivity material 23 without the insulating material 22.

In addition, in this embodiment, the low-emissivity member 23 is in close contact with the entire back surface of the insulating material 22, but the low-emissivity member 23 does not need to be in close contact with the entire back surface of the insulating material 22. For example, a plate-shaped low-emissivity member may be provided below the valley surface of the roof material 21 of a folded-plate roof to which the insulating material 22 is attached.

The buildings in the above embodiments have been described as being used in buildings such as general factories, warehouses, temporary facilities, and stores, but they may also be used in other buildings, such as office buildings. Specifically, they can be effectively applied to any building in which the roof 2 is exposed to the indoor space 6, the height from the floor 5 to the roof 2 is high, and thermal stratification occurs in the indoor space 6.

In the above embodiment, the floor portion 5 is formed from insulating material 75, but it may simply be a floor without insulating material 75.

The above-described embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and are not intended to be limiting. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be interpreted solely by the above-described embodiments, but should be defined based on the claims. Furthermore, all modifications that are equivalent in meaning and scope to the claims are included.

1 Building, 2 Roof, 3, 4 Walls, 5 Floor, 6 Indoor space, 8 Air conditioning unit, 21 Roof material, 22 Heat insulating material, 23 Low-emissivity material, 61 Upper space, 62 Lower space, 73, 74, 75 Heat insulating material, 101 Building, 102 Roof, 103, 104 Walls, 105 Floor, 106 Indoor space, 102 Roof material, 161 Upper space, 162 Lower space.

Claims (6)

A building in which an indoor space is formed by a roof portion, a wall portion supporting the roof portion from below, and a floor portion located inside the wall portion and below the roof portion,
The indoor space includes an upper space located on the roof side and a lower space located below the upper space and on the floor side,
The upper space and the lower space are connected without being partitioned vertically,
an air conditioning device that blows conditioned air toward the lower space and conditions the air in the lower space is provided in the lower space,
A building, wherein the wall portion has insulation in an area surrounding the lower space and does not have insulation in an area surrounding the upper space. The height of the heat insulating material of the wall portion is 2 m or more and 3.5 m or less,
The building according to claim 1, wherein the height from the floor to the roof is 4 m or more and 7 m or less. The building described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the roof portion includes a roofing material whose surface faces the outdoors and a low-emissivity member formed of a thermally emissive material, having low thermal emissivity, and disposed on the back side of the roofing material. The building described in claim 3, wherein the roof portion further includes an insulating material attached to the back surface of the roofing material and sandwiched between the roofing material and the low-emissivity member. A building according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the air-conditioning unit blows air horizontally or below horizontally. The building according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the floor portion is formed of a heat insulating material.