In the United States, the building industry is one of the main consumers of energy and materials such as concrete and walling systems. Exterior wall systems play an important role in determining the energy consumption for heating and cooling required for a residential house. This research work investigates the development of a simple thermal test to rapidly determine the potential use of different materials on exterior walls in terms of thermal performance. Tests on cement fibre panels are compared to an aluminum composite sheeting to review the utility of the test method when compared to the standard ASTM test method for thermal performance. The aluminum composite sheeting was tested in two thicknesses, three and six millimeters. The test results showed that the proposed rapid test method has some issues in terms of interpretation of the results. The tests on the aluminum composite sheeting suggest that it does not provide an improvement compared to a standard fibre board in terms of thermal performance. Future research is suggested on the development of a simpler test with better air flow and temperature control.
