In this paper, using an adjoint variable method, we develop a design sensitivity analysis(DSA) method applicable to heat conduction problems in steady state. Also, a topology design optimization method is developed using the developed DSA method. Design sensitivity expressions with respect to the thermal conductivity are derived. Since the already factorized system matrix is utilized to obtain the adjoint solution, the cost for the sensitivity computation is trivial. For the topology design optimization, the design variables are parameterized into normalized bulk material densities. The objective function and constraint are the thermal compliance of structures and allowable material volume respectively. Through several numerical examples, the developed DSA method is verified to yield very accurate sensitivity results compared with finite difference ones, requiring less than 0.25% of CPU time for the finite differencing. Also, the topology optimization yields physical meaningful results.