Dynamic thermal characteristics of insulated building walls with same thermal mass are studied numerically with optimized insulation thickness under steady periodic conditions using the climatic data of Riyadh. Insulation is effected through use of one, two and three layers of insulation, the locations of which are varied in order to achieve the best performance. Insulation layer(s) thicknesses are optimized by minimizing the total cost of insulation and energy consumption using the present worth method. The results show that the optimum thickness of a single insulation layer is independent of its location in the wall; and that, when more than one insulation layer is used, their total optimum thickness is the same as the optimum thickness of a single layer. As a consequence, walls thermal resistances (R-values) are equal under optimum conditions; however, peak load, time lag, and decrement factor are found to be substantially different. The best overall performance is achieved by a wall with three layers of insulation, each 26-mm-thick, placed at inside, middle and outside followed closely by a wall with two insulation layers, each 39-mm-thick, placed at middle and outside. Comparing performance of the best wall with that of a wall with one layer of insulation, 78-mm-thick, placed on the inside, the following improvements are achieved: 100% increase in time lag from 6 h to 12 h; 10-fold decrease in decrement factor; 20% decrease in both peak cooling and heating transmission loads, and 1.6% and 3.2% decrease in yearly cooling and heating transmission loads, respectively. It is emphasized that all walls have the same optimized R-value and same thermal mass and therefore all improvements achieved are solely due to the developed distribution of insulation layers. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.