Effects of thermal mass,ventilation,and glazing orientation on indoor air temperature in buildings

Abstract

In the last years in European countries, important measures were taken in order to reduce the energy need of buildings. Nevertheless, the energy need for cooling of buildings is rising. In most cases, to assure the required operative temperature, air conditioning systems are installed. Consequently, in summer period, the power networks of different European countries are overloaded. In order to determine the effects of glazed area orientation, air change rate, and thermal mass on the indoor air temperature, at the University of Debrecen, the Passol Laboratory was built. Measurements were performed from 2009 to 2013. Using the methodology given by EN ISO 13790:2008, the variation of indoor temperature was calculated and the theoretical values were compared with values obtained from measurements. The indoor temperature variation and the energy need for cooling were analyzed for different building structures, different orientations of the glazed area, and air change rates. The calculations have proven that the energy need for cooling can be reduced even to 25% of the thermal mass and the air change rate is chosen properly.