Assessment of Energy, Environmental and Economic Costs of Buildings’ Thermal Insulation–Influence of Type of Use and Climate

Among the aspects with major impacts on energy and environmental performance of a building, thermal insulation opaque elements its envelope stands out. This work assesses influence application to building’s comfort conditions indoors; moreover, energy, environmental, economic costs over complete life cycle is evaluated. For this purpose, three most commonly used insulating materials (expanded polystyrene—EPS, extruded polystyrene—XPS, mineral wool—MW), thicknesses between 0 (without insulation) 40 cm, five climates (hot, warm, moderate, cold, very cold), six types use (apartment, housing, clinic, school, bank branch, supermarket) were considered. EPS reveals itself be promising material, both in terms, so it was selected for study. The EPS’ optimal thickness depends type use, climate, perspective from which assessment carried out (energy, or economic). results show that economically are significantly lower than corresponding ones terms. Furthermore, more beneficial terms an perspective.